16-year-old Innocent lives with her mother Nyeka in Ajan village, in rural Northern Uganda. For the last few years, Innocent has suffered from epilepsy which nearly killed her one day on her way back home from school. She fell in a drainage ditch during the episode, but her friend helped save her.
Before that, her mom Nyeka had no idea what was going on in her daughter’s life. Since that incident, Innocent’s mom stopped her from going to school, because sometimes she could have an episode as much as twice a day, and she needs proper monitoring. So Innocent dropped out of school in third grade.
A year later, Nyeka took Innocent to the witch doctor, at the urging of other family members. They tried almost all the traditional healers in their community, spending much hard earned money and assets, but all failed to cure Innocent.
Under THRIVEGulu’s current project with the USAID SAFE program, we’re working in these rural areas to increase mental health awareness and help get people like Innocent the services they need. In October, Alex, the project field counselor for the area where Innocent lives, had the opportunity to visit her family for counseling. It took him almost four hours to convince Innocent’s mother that Innocent’s condition can be treated medically, and to take her to the local clinic for treatment.
It took Innocent’s mother a while to accept what the counselor was telling her, but today she can testify to the rest of the community. “I wasted a lot of money going to a witch doctor. My child could have stayed in school, with the right treatment,” she says. “2017 has started very well. I’ve never seen her falling since this year started, because I always encourage my daughter to take her medication as prescribed by the health works, and I believe with time she will go back to school.”
Many people in Innocent’s community have trouble identifying mental health issues and knowing where to seek help. But with the support of THRIVEGulu, many more people like Innocent with mental illness are being referred for life-changing treatment.
