Mental Health Matters
“What am I feeling today?” reads a colorful sign, plastered on the wall of RVCV’s preschool room. While one timid hand rests on the word ‘worried’, a second hand slaps ‘excited’. It’s week 2 of RVCV’s mental health program, and the primary school students are learning how to identify their feelings.
Meanwhile, across the grass, the secondary students are piled into the rec hall, silently inhaling and exhaling in unison, with legs and arms twisted into yoga positions. This week, our older children are practicing coping mechanisms and learning new tools to help calm intense emotions.
This spring, in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, TCF has launched a comprehensive, village-wide mental health program aimed at equipping our community with knowledge, language, and tools to recognize and address mental health issues. With almost all of our children home from college, school and jobs, quarantine provided the perfect opportunity to launch this initiative and teach all of our children about the importance of mental health.
Over the past 13 weeks, our community divided into primary, secondary, post-secondary, and staff, with each group receiving specific training and education tailored to their age. While exploring major mental health topics like Anxiety and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, our children and staff also practiced mindfulness through meditation, journaling and scrapbooking, spending time in nature, and thank you note writing to instill the importance of gratitude. We also implemented weekly “office hours” where our kids are encouraged to visit with staff one-on-one to talk about personal matters and mental health concerns.
For much of the Children’s Village, this program was the first time they had such a lengthy opportunity to talk about mental health. Across Africa, there is an acute stigma attached to mental health. Misconceptions and misinformation surrounding mental illness make the topic misunderstood. TCF’s Nurse Katie Anderson explains, “The mental health stigma is so huge in Tanzania, we realized our kids are not going to get this information anywhere else, so we have to provide it at home.”
As our quarantine comes to an end, we are grateful for the lessons shared and the knowledge instilled. “I have learned many things,” William, age 22, says. “If I am angry or sad, I like to brain dump on a piece of paper and I have learned how to help my friends.” Vicenti, age 18, agrees, “talking about mental health is useful. When I am stressed, now I do drawings instead of having a negative mindset.”
While the past 13 weeks are just the beginning, we hope that it will better prepare our community for the challenges of mental health and give our children tools to help themselves and those around them!