September arrives and you see the yellow ribbon appear everywhere. It is Brazil's largest campaign for valuing life. At the Club, it is not a poster on the wall: it is a way of looking at one another. It is noticing when that Pathfinder who is always around has gone too quiet. It is sitting beside them, listening, and saying that they matter.
This article is a guide to responsibility. The Club welcomes, but the Club does not treat. You will learn to recognize warning signs, to listen without judging, and to refer people to those who are trained: health professionals, a crisis line (in Brazil, CVV at 188) and your local emergency number (in Brazil, SAMU 192) in an emergency. The Club's role is to be a bridge, never the final destination.
The tone here is one of hope. The Bible is full of people who reached the bottom of the pit and were held up. Elijah wanted to give up, and God sent an angel to care for him before saying a single word. That is the spirit of Yellow September at the Club: care first, welcome always.
What Yellow September is and why it exists
Yellow September began in Brazil in 2015. It was created jointly by the Center for the Valuing of Life (CVV), the Federal Council of Medicine (CFM), and the Brazilian Psychiatry Association (ABP). The goal is simple and urgent: to open space for honest conversations about suffering and to show that asking for help is a sign of courage, not of weakness.
The color yellow came from a real story. In 1994, in the United States, a 17-year-old named Mike Emme took his own life. At the funeral, his family and friends handed out cards tied to yellow ribbons with a message: if you need help, ask for it. Yellow became the symbol of those who reach out a hand. The month was chosen because September 10 is World Suicide Prevention Day, established in 2003 by the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) in partnership with the World Health Organization.
Notice what the campaign is NOT. It does not talk about methods, does not tell details, does not turn pain into spectacle. It talks about life. About welcoming care. About picking up the phone to call a friend who has disappeared from the group. At the Club, this is exactly the framing you adopt: valuing life, every day, with concrete gestures.
The Club's role: to welcome and listen, without judging
A Pathfinder spends hours each week with the Club. The Counselor often knows the teenager better than a teacher does. This gives the Club a precious position: you notice changes before many other people do. But notice something important: welcoming is not diagnosing. You are not a psychologist, nor a doctor, nor do you need to be. Your role is to be present.
Welcoming begins with listening. When a Pathfinder opens up, resist the urge to fix it on the spot. Do not say things like "that's nonsense" or "other people have it worse than you." Those close the door. Say: "I'm glad you told me. I'm here." Ask open questions. Stay silent when needed. The teenager who feels heard has already taken the first step out of isolation.
Listening without judging does not mean agreeing with everything or pretending everything is fine. It means not measuring someone else's pain by your own ruler. A prepared Counselor knows that faith and listening walk together — if you want to deepen this care in daily life, see the guide on how to be a good Counselor. Welcoming care is the foundation; referral is the mandatory next step.
Warning signs: what to watch for in a Pathfinder
There is no single sign, and no isolated sign is a verdict. What matters is the change. A Pathfinder who was always cheerful and is suddenly listless. Someone who disappears from meetings, drops the Honor they loved, pulls away from friends in the Unit. Sudden changes in sleep, appetite, or mood deserve attention.
Watch for phrases that sound like goodbyes or a deep hopelessness about the future. Phrases like "no one would miss me" or "I wish I could disappear" should not be ignored or treated as teenage drama. Take them seriously. Growing isolation, constant irritability, and the feeling of being a burden to everyone are also signs that call for care.
Facing any sign, the rule is the same: draw near and talk. You can ask directly and carefully whether the person has been thinking about hurting themselves. Asking does not plant the idea in anyone's head — on the contrary, it brings relief, because it shows that someone has noticed. If the answer is worrying, you do not hold this alone: involve the Director, the parents, and a professional. And if there is immediate risk, call your local emergency number (in Brazil, SAMU 192).
Read alsoBreaking the Silence and the Pathfinder clubWhere to refer: crisis lines, emergency services, and professionals
Save these numbers as if they were the most important in the Club, because they are. In Brazil, the CVV (Center for the Valuing of Life) answers by phone at 188, free of charge, 24 hours a day, every day. The call is confidential and the volunteer is there only to listen. You can call for yourself or guide a Pathfinder to call. 188 is for anyone who needs to talk, at any hour.
Your local emergency number (in Brazil, SAMU 192) is for an emergency: when there is immediate risk to life, when someone has already been hurt or is about to be. In that moment there is no hesitating or debating — you call the emergency number and you do not leave the person alone. Also keep the contact of the neighborhood primary health unit and the nearest mental-health center, which offer psychological follow-up through the public health system.
Referral includes the family. Except in a situation of danger inside the home, the parents or guardians need to know, because the protection network of a minor runs through them. The Club coordinates: it talks with the parents, points to the professional path, offers prayer and presence. What the Club does not do is take over the treatment. A bridge, always a bridge.
The line you do not cross: secrecy and risk to life
This is the most serious part, and you cannot get it wrong. When a Pathfinder pours out their heart, it is natural to want to promise secrecy to earn their trust. Do not promise. When life is at risk, secrecy does not hold — and you need to make this clear beforehand, with tenderness and with truth.
Say something like: "You can tell me whatever you want, and I will respect you. But if you are in danger, I cannot keep this to myself, because your life matters far too much. I will seek help with you, not against you." This honesty protects the Pathfinder and protects you. Carrying alone a secret that involves risk to life is a weight no one should bear, and one that can cost dearly.
In the same way, the Club never details methods, does not pass along stories with particulars, does not turn a case into hallway gossip. A member's pain is not gossip. Information reaches only those who need to act: the Director, the parents, the professional. Discretion to protect, transparency to save. Both things, at the same time.
The role of the chaplain and of faith as an anchor
The Club's chaplain has a special place in Yellow September. He is the spiritual caregiver, the one the Director turns to when a Pathfinder is suffering. But note: the chaplain also does not replace the health professional. Prayer and therapy do not compete — they walk together. The chaplain prays, welcomes, points to the hope of God and, at the same time, helps bring the teenager to the right care.
Faith is a powerful anchor against despair. The Bible does not hide the pain of its characters. The prophet Elijah, in 1 Kings 19, was so exhausted that he asked to die. And what did God do first? He did not rebuke him. He sent an angel to give him food, water, and rest. Only afterward came the conversation. It is the perfect model of welcoming care: tending to the body and the heart before any sermon.
Psalm 34:18 promises: "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit" (NIV). And Jesus invites in Matthew 11:28: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (NIV). Carrying this hope without imposing it is the heart of chaplaincy. If a Pathfinder wants to learn to bring their burdens to God, the guide on how to pray is a good start — always alongside, and never in place of, professional care.
Acts of hope the Club can carry out in the neighborhood
The Club's Yellow September does not stay inside the hall. It becomes service to the community. A simple and beautiful action is the yellow ribbon: the Club makes ribbons and hands them out in the square, at church, at school, always with the right message — value your life, ask for help, the crisis line exists. Each ribbon is an invitation to care.
Posters and murals give visibility. Make the crisis-line number nice and large, with a phrase of hope. A worship service or themed program, open to the community, with testimonies of overcoming and the Word of God, reaches entire families. A walk for life with yellow shirts involves the parents and shows the Club as an agent of good in the neighborhood.
Be careful with the framing in every action: talk about life, about a way out, about help that is available. Never about methods, never about detailed pain. A poster that tells where to seek help saves; one that romanticizes pain does the opposite. Always keep the crisis-line number (in Brazil, CVV 188) visible and, in any activity, have the emergency contacts on hand. The Club that spreads hope plants life where before there was only silence.