Students undergo training in mental health and psychosocial support

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | More than 50 students from different schools across the country have received training in mental health and psychosocial support to help people within their communities. The students have been equipped with skills to help them identify and listen to people with mental health and psychosocial challenges resulting from the nationwide lockdown.

A number of people are going through challenges that can cause depression, anxiety and stress among others because of the COVID-19 impact on their lives. The training was organised by Brac Uganda, in collaboration with TPO Uganda, a civil society organisation that empowers communities in mental health.

Samuel Okalebo from Serere district, a graduate in flight operations says the training is a huge relief to his life after failing to get an internship from the local aviation companies. “l have gone through many challenges that I think need someone who is resilient, and now that I have got the psychosocial support in this training, I feel relieved from all that.”

Adding that, “Since 2018, I have been approaching local companies for internship placement but all has been in vain. The information about coping in life has been really helpful.” He says that there are several students in communities going through the same experience but they have no one to support them. Okalebo says that he is going to ensure that he will use the training to help his peers to recover from their current challenges and build resilience to be able to move on.

Grace Aguti, from Palisa district, who is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering says her focus will be on the farming community who she thinks were affected much during the lockdown.

“In Palisa, farmers grow rice, cotton, sorghum, maize and cassava but during the lockdown, they were forced to sell off their commodities at a loss due to different challenges that came along with the prolonged lockdown,” Aguti said. She says that they had succeeded in persuading youths in her community to embrace farming. She however says that many of them suffered a setback because of the COVID-19 lockdown.

Bridget Wazaba from Mbale district says that many girls in her community were impregnated and married off without their consent during the lockdown. She says that the training comes in handy to support them to cope with their new life. Stephen Buluba from Kamuli says that he will use the training to support families with COVID-19 victims because some of them still find it hard to associate with them.

Francis Wangi, the career guidance specialist at Brac Uganda says that the beneficiaries of the training are from poor and vulnerable communities. He says that they want to ensure that they use the students to help their communities to recover from the impact of COVID-19 and other social, economic and political challenges.

Wangi says that so many people are suffering silently in their communities because of the lockdown and they need someone to identify them and provide the necessary support for their recovery.

Grace Obalini, a mental health and psychosocial support specialist says that the trainees needed the basic skills on mental health so as to help them understand the environment around them in order to support others. She says that there is a lot of stress, anxiety, depression and anger among the communities due to the many things that have happened in the country.

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