The statistics are grim worldwide, 1 in every 4 people may have, have had or are prone to suffer a mental health condition in their lifetime. But in Kenya the situation is more appalling given a lack of statistics of the number of people suffering with mental health conditions even from quarters such as the State whose duty it is under the UN Convention for Rights of Persons with Disabilities ("the Convention") to collect such data . Granted, with the grossly under-sufficient number of 79 psychiatrists nationwide, and virtually no State support mechanisms to help collect relevant data, persons with mental health conditions remain a largely unrecognized group in the country.
Kenya being a secular nation by law but very traditional and and religious in practice, people with mental health issues have always been considered as bewitched, cursed, unfavoured by deity and therefore taboo to speak about. However this had led to an existence for the afflicted and their families that is devoid of care, support, understanding and enjoyment of inalienable human rights and freedoms.
Under the Convention persons with disabilities are entitled to certain rights other than those enjoyed by all human beings. Although there has been debate on the classification of mental health issues as a disability, the Constitution of |Kenya 2010 clears this debate by defining disability to include any ".......sensory, mental, psychological, or other impairment ,condition or illness that has, or is perceived by significant sectors of the community to have, a substantial or long-term effect on an individual's ability to carry out day-to-day activities." This rights will be discussed in a more detailed post. It is however impossible for this rights to be enjoyed persons with mental health conditions if they are unrecognized, stigmatized and ostracized by society.
Awareness creation which is a key focus of the BasicNeeds Fellowship group entails bringing this people out of the shadows where they have been hidden or have retreated due to stigma into the limelight so that as a community we are forced to embrace them and treat them with the dignity and provide them with support they need. As the fellowship we create awareness through online activity such as tweeting using hashtags #mentalhealthke #mentalhealthawareness and #purpleday, #epilepsyawarenesscreation which were trending on 26th March which was International Epilepsy Awareness Day. We did a post of our friends that day who wore purple in support of the cause and the fellowship, what awesome friends!
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| This was our theme picture for this year's purple day |
We also go places and meet with people in the community, with whom we have physical interactions and empowerment with.
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