What can we do to help? Youth react to First Lady’s questions

In an open letter that First Lady Jeannette Kagame directed to the youth regarding addressing mental health illnesses, she asked the youth to love themselves enough to know they are worthy of receiving the help they need. She highlighted that uninformed reactions to mental illness don’t necessarily point to a lack of love, but to the dangers of unawareness and denial, and so do uninformed choices of coping mechanisms, disastrous as they can be. “What can we do to help you? And what can be, in turn, your responsibility in making the best of this help?” she asked the youth. The New Times gathered some of the responses to the questions from the youth. Maëva Bazilia Rusamaza, a mental health activist who once suffered from depression, said “We ask you to speak for us where our voices can't reach, to tell people about the services that are being provided in Rwanda and for the government to understand and support our projects. We are minds full of ideas that could bring a better change to our society.” She added: “I ask you and the people to understand that we do not accuse the older generation, instead, we wish to enlighten them so that they can understand more about mental health. It is hard to teach someone who believes they are more informed about a subject. We request you to allow us to share what we have learned as you share with us as well.” Rulinda Kwizera, Board Chair at Mental Health Journal Rwanda, said that due to social disconnection that is evident in the society of today merely because of tight schedules or poor adaptation to modern life, there is lack of social support and less developed social-emotional skills needed harness and cope with life challenges. “I think we need a free safe space to aid young people in engaging and normalizing conversations related to wellness.” He requested his fellow youth to be part of peer support upholding values of trust and companionship as well as creating or being involved in initiatives that contribute to behavior change. Laure Iyaga, Founder of Sana Initiative, said: “What a moment to be alive when there is a genuine will, compassion and consideration from the highest level of the national leadership about mental health.” “Despite numerous efforts that have been geared towards mental health conditions, they still need to be reinforced, broadened, and taken to the hard-to-reach communities in our country.” She is of the view that raising more awareness on the issue should go hand-in-hand with making mental health services more affordable and investing in healthcare workforce so that they are equipped with knowledge and tools to attend to the increasing demand for these services. Claver Haragirimana, founder of OPRAMER, an organization that advocates for those with mental health, said there should be deliberate efforts to teach parents about mental health on how they can first heal and then create that environment where a child will grow up without necessarily having to suffer from depression, and in case they did, for parents to be in a position to help them. “For the youth, we need to be given space where we can share our testimonies of what we went through and how we were able to come out victorious. He added that it is easier to get help from someone who can relate to the situation in addition to the psychological tools available. In her op-ed, the First Lady stated assurance that “they, our dynamic and innovative youth, will take us to the development we seek, to the progressive world for which we fight.” She reminded the youth to honour the love they are given, by the country, communities, and families, by loving themselves too.

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What can we do to help? Youth react to First Lady’s questions