Many knew her as a Clinical Psychologist working with Icyizere Psychotherapeutic Center, but didn’t know she is also an artist who paints and crafts beautiful artworks.

On June 3, Dr Cindi Cassady kicked off an art exhibition titled "Living with Hope” which features 38 of her artworks.

The exhibition which will run for a week is taking place at Inganzo Art Gallery in Masaka, Kicukiro District. According to Cassady, some of the artworks being exhibited tackle mental health and others portray hope and the beauty of different places in Rwanda.

Originally from the US, the clinical psychologist has been living in Rwanda for eight years. In the last two years, she noticed that different young people have been committing suicide and facing depression, and realised that the Rwandan society needed to talk about depression openly.

Cassady believes that suicide is completely preventable in most situations though she has realised that it's stigmatised in the Rwandan society and people don't want to talk about it for a lot of different reasons.

On the other hand, a few months before Covid-19 outbreak, she noticed that young people had started talking about depression and all kinds of mental health stuff on social media.

She said, "It is amazing! The situation is going to change because young people are comfortable blogging, posting and tweeting about depression and are much more open than their parents. I really see youth as the catalysts for changing the course of mental health in the country."

Cassady is aware that Caraes Ndera as the leading psychiatric hospital in the country needs to connect and collaborate with youth to find a way to talk about what is going on in their lives and help their families to understand what depression is.

"There is a need to normalize things. Parents need to understand that a child can be depressed for many different reasons and can get help and find a way to talk about it. That’s the purpose of this exhibition; bringing people together to talk about mental health.”

Dr. Cindi Cassady speaking during the opening of the exhibition. / Courtesy

Cassady also revealed that the money from the sold artworks will fund a program that aims to educate families about depression and suicide, focusing on preventing those issues in youth.

Commenting on the title of the exhibition "Living with Hope”, she said, "When people have mental health issues, sometimes they lose hope. If you give up on hope, you are at risk of not surviving. That's what suicide is; it's giving up, not having hope. We are in this together. We need to give each other hope. Things usually get better if you get hope."

Talking about one of her artworks named "Out of The Shadow”, Cassady said it portrays how when one is depressed, they isolate, don't have energy and don't talk to friends, and how when they get treatment, whether medication or therapy, they gather hope and can smile and enjoy life again.

Some of her artworks also portray the beauty of different parts of Rwanda. For her, it's because she likes the country.

Visitors speak out

Fr Pierre Claver Sindambiwe, Director of Mental health and Nursing at Pierre Claver and Director of Nursing at Caraes Ndera Neuropsychiatric Hospital said that the exhibition helps in raising awareness on mental health as well as the patients.

He added: "Whoever will take one of these artworks anywhere will be raising awareness and those who see it can then take a step in preventing mental health issues and get a way to talk about them. The artworks also make viewers relax and gain hope.”

Benita Kagabirwa who visited the exhibition said it’s amazing how the psychologist is using her art to raise mental health awareness.

"I believe that a mental health issue shouldn't be an illness in the first place. How people use messages through art and other ways to raise awareness on that is really amazing,” she said.

"If Cindi cannot manage to talk to everyone but manages to make these artworks, it’s another contribution to awareness. An artwork can speak to you directly and by talking about it, a number of people can get a message.”

"Out of The Shadow” is one of her favourite artworks by Cindi. Commenting about it, she said: "The artwork inspires people to come out of the darkness, be happy and enjoy life.”

Delice Fatiro who also visited the exhibition specifically loved an artwork which portrays ‘trees in Musanze’ and a beautiful road that passes there saying it reminded her how beautiful the place is.

She added: "You feel hopeful when you visit this exhibition and see some of the artworks that are here. I encourage Cindi to keep making more of these.”