Behind the Smile: Zambia’s Women Find a Place to Heal, Restore and Breathe Again

By Alain Kabinda 

LUANSHYA — A woman can walk into a room smiling, greet everyone around her and appear perfectly fine, while carrying a burden that nobody knows about. 

Behind that smile may be anxiety, trauma, rejection, marital pain or months of emotional exhaustion. 

But in Luanshya, women from different backgrounds recently gathered to break that silence and confront some of the emotional battles they have been carrying. 

Under the theme“Breath Again,” the Mental Health Healing Retreat for Women (MHHRW) provided a safe space for women seeking healing, restoration and empowerment. 

The retreat was built around the words of Ezekiel 37:5: “I will put breath in you, and you will come to life.” 

The retreat's convener said the initiative was created after observing women who appeared strong on the outside but were struggling privately. 

“We saw many women smiling on the outside but bleeding on the inside,” she said. 

The observation points to a reality that can make mental health challenges difficult to recognise.

A woman can continue going to work, raising children, participating in church activities and fulfilling family responsibilities while battling anxiety, depression or unresolved trauma. 

At the centre of the Luanshya retreat was the creation of a safe environment where women could talk about their experiences without being judged. 

The programme included prayer, inner-healing sessions, mental health talks, panel discussions and one-on-one counselling. 

The organisers deliberately combined spiritual and practical support, recognising that women may need different forms of support as they work through painful experiences. 

For others, it may involve counselling, spiritual reflection or simply discovering that they are not alone in what they are experiencing. 

The convener said the Church has an important role to play in supporting people experiencing emotional and psychological pain. 

“The Church must be a hospital for the broken, not a courtroom for the wounded. That is why we created Breath Again,” she said. 

The statement reflects the organisers' desire to create spaces where women can speak openly about their struggles without feeling condemned. 

It also challenges the perception that faith communities should only provide spiritual answers to problems that may have emotional or psychological dimensions. 

By incorporating mental health talks and counselling alongside prayer, the retreat presents healing as a process that can involve both spiritual and practical support. 

The organisation describes itself as a women's mental health and spiritual healing ministry focused on helping women heal, forgive, encounter God and become established for their purpose. 

Its broader mission is centred on creating safe spaces where women can acknowledge their pain and begin working through it. 

This is particularly important for women who may have spent years suppressing difficult experiences because of family expectations, social pressure or fear of being judged. 

The Luanshya retreat also highlights a broader conversation about mental health and the importance of support systems.

When emotional struggles remain hidden, families and communities may not recognise that someone needs help until the situation becomes more serious. 

The “Breath Again” initiative is built around that principle — that women should have places where they can stop pretending that everything is fine. 

For the women who gathered in Luanshya, the message of Ezekiel 37:5 offered the central metaphor of the retreat: life can return to places that feel exhausted, broken or without hope.

And sometimes, the first step towards healing is simply being given permission to breathe again.