Thursday 10th October
Today is World Mental Health Day
and we begin it with our fourth day of the 5 day TOT mental health skills
course for doctors and nurses. I encourage the course participants to think of
something they might do during the day, to commemorate the occasion. We get on
with our teaching and today the participants use OSCE as a teaching technique.
Dr. Jibriil has been busy all
morning arranging a celebratory meeting to commemorate World Mental Health day.
At 10 am, we are joined in the classroom by many people. Dr. Walhad, the
principal of the University of Amoud, Dr Ismail, the hospital Director, many of
the faculty staff, public health officers and health officers of the region,
religious leaders, community elders, and doctors including Dr. Jibriil and Dr. Gurguurte, who are both working extremely hard to ensure mental health services
exist in Borama. Also in attendance is Fatima, who currently leads and trains
10 community mental health workers, and also all the female community health
workers themselves.
This is the first meeting of its kind in Somaliland to commemorate World Mental Health Day and I am thrilled to be a part of this.
Many of the attendees make speeches and the focus is on mental health. Fatima
is also invited, as am I, to speak, and later I am told that a community elder
talked about the empowerment of women being a vital step forward, among other issues. This is a great thing to hear here in Somaliland. I am
particularly impressed by just how much community mobilization there is in
Borama. The community really do seem to have come together and mobilized in an
inspiring way and from what people have translated for me from the meeting
today, it is clear there is the plan among the community to continue to
improve mental health services in this region. Today I really do feel
privileged to be in Somaliland.
I also hear from colleagues in London
that Hargeisa has featured in a short documentary about mental health, aired on
Channel 4 last night. Mariam, the nurse from the mental ward at Hargeisa
Group Hospital is shown on the programme. I telephone her after I see the
footage, and tell her that she is famous worldwide! Mariam works extremely hard
on the ward in Hargeisa and I am so pleased that her hard work and dedication
is finally shown to the world. In her humble way, she simply says ‘Lauren, I
like looking after people with mental illness.’
I finish the evening with a Skype
meeting to London, where I discuss the mental health group work with the wider
KTSP community/ leads.
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