My name is Thavanisha Shanmugam and I have been a telephonic counsellor with SADAG for a little over 5 years now. I have also represented SADAG at various awareness days, training workshops as well as talks country wide. I live in Pretoria and work as a KUMON teacher in Pretoria.I travel from Pretoria to our head offices in Sandton every Sunday morning to make my 8-12 counselling shift at SADAG. Now, of course, the travelling to and from Sandton is not an easy task nor is waking up early on a Sunday morning but I gladly do it as I hold in such high regard the work that SADAG does as well as the values they uphold. I believe SADAG has done so much for so many over the years and I am so grateful to have been apart of it. It is my passion to complete my studies and someday become a psychologist so in the meantime, SADAG affords me the opportunity to help people in distress from all walks of life and as a result, I believe this has made me a better person and scholar as I am gaining insight into the various mental illnesses as they are experienced by their sufferers that no textbook could impart.