WHEN Claver Haragirimana was in senior four, he was admitted at Ndera Neuropsychiatric Hospital for a month after suffering from a mental illness. But he endured a lot of stigma from his family members and friends. 

"Although doctors had declared my mental health to be stable, my family deliberately refused to take me back to school and refused to pay my school fees. I got a job in a salon and used the money to go back to school,” says Haragirimana.

Luck smiled his way when the director of Ndera Hospital offered to pay his school fees for his final year in secondary. Haragirimana was again rescued by sponsors to enable him join Independent Institute of Lay Adventists of Kigali (INLAK) for University education.

However, Haragirimana’s problems were far from over. "Wherever I worked, if they found out about my history, somehow I would lose my job. I decided to investigate if other former mental health patients were facing the same challenges. I discovered they were also suffering which meant that I had to do something,” Haragirimana reveals.

This problem inspired Haragirimana to start L’Organisation pour la Promotion et la Solidarité des Malades et Handicapés Mentaux au Rwanda, (OPROMAMER).

OPROMAMER is an NGO that advocates for mental health patients in Rwanda. It was founded in 2012. 

Most members are people who once suffered from mental illnesses. The organisation addresses issues of mental health, justice and creates awareness about mental illness.

"Some people suffer from mental illness as a result of circumstances such as trauma and depression. Stigmatising them only affects the healing process,” Haragirimana explains.

Amina Nyinawumuntu, 31, is a member and beneficially of OPROMAMER.  She suffered from mental illness in 2010 and was taken to Ndera hospital. 

On top of getting help in form of medication, she also benefited from training and art sessions that OPROMAMER provides to its members. 

"The interaction with people who understand what I went through is encouraging and I never feel alone or abandoned. I’m happy to say that the skills I’m getting from the art sessions will help me in future,” Nyinawumuntu says. 

Mariam Mujawamariya, Nyinawumuntu’s mother said that ever since her daughter started getting trainings from OPROMAMER, she has changed. 

"She was always hiding in her bedroom, but now she is happy and she is always eager to go for the training. I think they are helping her because I can see that she is slowly healing. 

"As mother, I’m grateful and hoping for the best. I wish to also advise other parents out there not to abandon their children if they are suffering from mental illness. When you abandon them; they are likely not to cure fast. They need our support and this will ease the healing process,” Mujawamariya emphasises. 

OPROMAMER trains patients so that they can participate in community activities, by providing them with income generating skills as a way of reversing the stigma associated with mental illness.

The NGO has registered over 100 cases of people who encounter several problems related to mental health. OPROMAMER offers advice and counselling to these people as well as their families. 

Mujawamariya notes that there are even mental health patients that are abandoned by their families and the NGO takes the initiative to take them to the hospital. 

"We have also discovered that there are mentally ill women who are raped. We are trying to take care of such cases,” says Haragirimana. 

OPROMAMER advocates for mental health patients and strives to elevate them past the problems they experience. Besides fighting against stigmatisation of the patients, they develop programmes that these patients go through in their recovery process. The most recent programme is Soul Art Therapy. 

It is an art therapy programme that stimulates thoughtful arts and crafts ideas to mental health patients. The results of these sessions are spectacular because it tends to bring out each person’s artistic expression as well as clearly increase their skill and their confidence.

The art therapy sessions have been ongoing at Ndera Hospital for the last two months with the help of Josh Buczynski an American Paper Toy Designer. Haragirimana is the President of OPROMAMER but the organization has four permanent staff  that work with the beneficiaries on day to day basis.