GREAT BAY, Sint Maarten (DCOMM) – The deadline for the Mental Health Foundation (MHF) “Within the Dark,” art, writing and video competition is Friday, May 18.
The competition was created to raise mental health awareness within the community. Submissions can be emailed to: jalcin@mhf-sxm.com and the criteria for writing, art and video are:
Writing: Create a poem, story, letter, song lyrics, or essay. The written material should be minimum 250 words and maximum 600 words sent in as a Word Document.
Art: Create a drawing, painting, digital art, photo, etc. Art pieces should be sized 9” × 12” or smaller and formatted in JPEG or PNG with a signature.
Video: The video can be a song, dance, spoken word, or simply information shown in a creative way. You can also decide to do this project as a group of maximum five people or as an individual. Video should be a maximum of five minutes long.
Participants in the competition can only send one submission per category/categories of choice; a maximum of five submissions can be sent in for the anthology.
Persons can choose to remain anonymous or use their artist name. When submitting, they must clarify whether the work being sent is for the competition, anthology, or both. MHF says to make sure to fact check before submitting material; be creative and original – no plagiarism, however referencing is allowed.
Collective Prevention Services (CPS), a department within the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour, encourages members of the community to share their thoughts via this competition from your viewpoint about mental illness.
Mental health includes emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.
Over the course of your life, if you experience mental health problems, your thinking, mood, and behavior could be affected. Many factors contribute to mental health problems, including: Biological factors, such as genes or brain chemistry; life experiences, such as trauma or abuse; and family history of mental health problems.
For information about public health matters, call CPS at 542-1122, 542-1222, 542-1322 and 542-1570; or emailsurveillance@sintmaartengov.org
