Jess Robus
MENTAL WELLNESS FOR KIDS AND TEENS
Jess Robus , Pretoria - 2023
It is not often that you meet someone who is so clearly walking their own path through life, and exuding generosity and compassion with almost every step. Especially if they are only 17.
Within the first five minutes of my whirlwind of a conversation with Jess Robus, she had taken me through the provenance of some of her favourite Afrikaans words, all told with the delight of someone who clearly enjoys the idiosyncratic development of language.
She also told me of her recent diagnosis with autism which in her own words “made a lot of things make sense”.
At 12, Jess wrote a children's book called “Arnold The Not Dinosaur”. It is a story about panic attacks, identity, self-acceptance and being unique, that may well help children to grow up feeling less alone.
A “Few Slivers of Light” is a collection of poems that Jess wrote between the ages of 11 and 14. It is a journey from despair to hope in three parts; The Darkness, The Dawn and The Day.
“As scary as it can be to put some things out, I knew I could help others and I wanted to do that. I felt a responsibility to help people feel validated in their struggles.”
She isn’t concerned about selling a lot of books. Her goal is to communicate a message of understanding and unity.
“I was inspired by a musician called Dodi, who wrote about panic attacks and depression. It was so wonderful to hear something so poetic and candid about these things. I saw mental health issues in my friends’ lives and the extreme toll that it took on themselves and their families. I wanted to tell teenagers that they weren’t alone and that their struggles were shared.”
Jess is busy studying for her Matric but in her spare time, she does motivational talks at schools around Gauteng aimed at children, high school students, neurodiverse learners and parents.
“The first school talk I ever did was at Kingsmead. A girl came and gave me a hug and said ‘I have never felt more seen’. I realised that by helping just one person, everything I wanted to do with the book, I had done.”
Both of Jess’s books can be purchased through select bookstores, online retailers or directly from her website www.jessrobus.com.
