SCOUTS HEALING INVISIBLE WOUNDS
Youth, 10 to 29 years, have been hit hardest by covid-19; from job losses to disruption of school calendars, some experiencing violent and abusive caregiver relationships, increased teen pregnancies, cases of child labor, restrictions on social gatherings among other factors. The consequences of not addressing these mental health conditions extend into late adulthood, impairing both physical and mental health, and limiting opportunities to lead fulfilling lives as adults.
The first phase of the project was undertaken through online sessions on zoom where we invited experts to facilitate sessions on pertinent issues affecting the youth. We also held social media campaigns to create awareness on mental health. We were able to reach over 10000 people on social media and 800 through zoom sessions. We also had a few physical sessions where we visited different organized groups like scout groups to talk to them about mental health.
The project team has dedicated 11 months in the project and reached over 10,000 youths online. Beneficiaries have devoted more time to be sensitized on matters to do with mental health.
Youths have become more responsible after the sensitization as we have witnessed them educating the rest in our groups pertaining to different mental health topics voluntarily.
More youth are coming out to seek support and so far we have referred over 50 young people to professionals for psychosocial support.
Mental Health is an urgent issue that all organizations need to focus on. Many young people are facing so many challenges and they are not well-sensitized on where to seek help.
Some people also find it hard to share their problems due to social stigma and this calls for more awareness so that we can normalize the conversations.
To make it better, we are training more scouts and scout leaders on Psychological First Aid to help us reach more people.
