Bringing mental health awareness and support to at-risk populations in Kenya

KENYA

Bright Shitemi is a passionate Kenyan on a mission to combat the stigma and misunderstanding surrounding mental health in his country, especially in underserved communities, while providing community-appropriate care for all Kenyans.

The World Health Organization reports that over 116 million people in Africa were living with mental health conditions even before the pandemic. Disturbingly, suicide rates are at an all-time high, and there's an alarming increase in alcohol and substance abuse among adolescents as young as 13. In Kenya, government statistics reveal that at least 1 in 4 Kenyans will experience mental illness at some point in their lives.

Bright was among those who fell within these alarming statistics. As a child, he grew up in a violent home, which led to a harrowing suicide attempt by his mother. Growing up in a single-parent household after his parents' separation, he confronted the daunting challenges of a society that not only stigmatised suicide but also failed to provide support.

In his adulthood, Bright battled his own depression and struggled to find the support he needed. Without access to mental health care and no one to talk to about what he was experiencing, his condition escalated until he considered ending his life. Recognising the need for change, he embarked on a mission to reach out to others who might be suffering in silence. His first step involved visiting Kenyan schools, where he shared his own story to dismantle the stigma around mental health. He aimed to provide safe spaces for students to express themselves freely and be equipped to support each other and refer cases to professional care. This approach resonated with many students who started reaching out to him personally to discuss their challenges, marking a breakthrough.

Bright organised a march for mental health awareness.

These experiences gave rise to Bright's brainchild, Mental 360. It sprang from the stark realisation that there was an urgent need for accessible mental health care, especially in low-resource areas. Mental 360 provides a lifeline with its Community Wellness Centres, a national helpline, and an emergency counseling support center tailored for crisis situations, offering invaluable assistance to young people suffering from depression. It employs the use of art, experiential learning, and storytelling in awareness creation, to engage youths on this highly stigmatised topic in a most powerful way.

An example that illustrates Mental 360’s transformative effect is a group of 10 to 16-year-old sexual trauma survivors. Their case was being processed by the police, but the system didn’t account for the trauma they had endured. Without proper support, girls in these situations often face Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, anxiety, depression, stigmatisation, and isolation from their own families and communities. But thanks to Bright's program and the compassionate guidance of trained counsellors, these girls were able to access trauma-informed care and successfully reintegrated into their communities or moved into safe houses with improved resilience and good mental health ready to rebuild their lives. Mental 360 has carried out over 20,000 support sessions, trained 5000 peer champions in communities and reached over 2 million people in awareness campaigns.

Bright has since secured support grants from Facebook and got technical support from Google to work on their growth plan, a web and mobile mental health platform, aiming to scale across Kenya and Africa. This achievement significantly expands access to mental health support for all Kenyans, including those living below the poverty line, thanks to the widespread adoption of smartphones and improved internet accessibility across Kenya. His platform enables people to share their stories anonymously and connect with lived experience mentors. His work is deeply attuned to the intersection of poverty and trauma with mental health challenges, delivering culturally tailored awareness campaigns. He aims to reach tens of millions of at-risk youth via the platform across Africa.

Beyond providing direct support, Mental 360 is a driving force for advocating for improved national mental health policies. One glaring issue is the current law that criminalises suicide attempts, leading to imprisonment for those who fail, rather than health care. Bright and his team are relentless in their advocacy to change this inhumane law.

Bright Shitemi's commitment goes beyond statistics and policies; it revolves around individual narratives. He offers hope, and healing, and plays a pivotal role in breaking down the barriers of stigma, one person at a time. His next steps are to expand the reach of his Community Wellness Centers across marginalised communities in Kenya so that every Kenyan, regardless of their social status, can access quality mental health support and live around a community that understands and supports them.