30 Years of Mental Health Services in Malawi
On 3rd October 2023, Saint John of God Hospitaller Services organized an Open Day aimed at celebrating its 30 years of work in providing mental health services in Malawi. The event had over 50 high-level dignitaries from Government, partner organizations, international organisations, the private sector and the media. The theme of the event was: ‘Mental Health is a Universal Human right.’
The event began with remarks from our CEO, Dr Charles Masulani, followed by presentations from our Programs Manager (Mzuzu Service) Christopher Mhone who highlighted the History, Programs and Projects that Saint John of God Hospitaller Services has done and continues to pursue. Additionally, Dr Mwawi Ng’oma (Programs Manager Lilongwe Service) shared information about what the service is doing in mental health research by presenting maternal mental health interventions. After the two presentations, the dignitaries were given an opportunity to visit the pavilions, which showcased all the programs and projects that Saint John offers.
During the event, we had 12 pavilions displaying all our mental health and psychosocial services, which include our two mental hospitals, outpatient departments, psychosocial services which comprise our stress clinic, employee wells program and others. Furthermore, we also displayed pavilions of our early childhood development programs which include: the Portage project, Elvira Special Needs school, Umoza Children’s project, as well as other services like our College of Health Sciences, Institute of Vocational Training and JOG Enterprises and other projects supported by our partners Christian Blind Mission (CBM), Save the Children and KinderNotHilfe (KNH).
The Open Day event was a success, and some of the immediate results were coverage by national media such as the Nation, Zodiak as well as an invitation to showcase our youth-focused programs of Umoza and Institute of Vocational Training at the UN Day. Additionally, there was a provision of basic counselling training at JTI Tobacco Company.
Post a comment