*She Writes Woman has been chosen for 2020 Facebook Accelerator in which a total of 77 communities will participte across Nigeria
IT News Nigeria:
She Writes Woman (SWW) Safe Place community has been selected for the 2020 Facebook Accelerator, a six-month program focused on helping impactful communities to grow.
She Writes Woman is a women-led movement of love, hope and support that gives mental
health a voice in Nigeria. The organization was founded in April 2016 by Hauwa Ojeifo, following a double diagnosis of bipolar and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
A statement said a total number of 77 communities across six regions have been selected to participate where up to $3 million total will be awarded to program participants globally.
The selected participants, it added, will each receive up to $30k to execute their growth plans during the 6-month program and could be eligible to receive part of the $500K additional funding available at the end of the program to further grow their communities and impactSafe Place Nigeria started as a first of its kind women-only support group initiated in October 2016.
Hauwa Ojeifo, the Executive Director, created Safe Place Nigeria to provide a stigma and judgment-free space for young people to talk about mental health-related issues. It has become a community for young people to learn, feel connected, get support and feel a sense of belonging. Its 22,000+ members have benefitted from free telephone counselling, support groups and mental health resources.
“ She Writes Woman’s initiative, Safe Place Nigeria, is focused on building a dedicated online community for the growing number of mental health-conscious Nigerians, especially now with restrictions in accessing physical spaces While we have directly supported over 900 beneficiaries in the last 2 years, this Accelerator offers us an unprecedented opportunity to scale access to mental healthcare, self-care tools and wellness resources”, said the Hauwa Ojeifo, Executive Director of She Writes Woman.
This is a six-month program aimed at helping these community leaders quickly and strategically achieve their growth goals. The Community Accelerator provides training, support and funding to enable great communities to make an even greater positive impact in the world. It is focused more specifically on communities that are already established, have a business model, and are looking to grow their community through Facebook’s family of apps.
People with mental disorders are found to be stigmatised while their support depends on the mind set and general attitude in their respective countries and that individuals with disorder can be treated as criminals, study in Nigeria and Kenya revealed.
Report on Emotional Empathy, Social Distance and Attitude of Police Officers towards People with Mental Illness showed that people with mental illness are generally stigmatized.
Findings revealed that “people with mental illness are stigmatized by police officers and may be treated as criminals and not as either suspects or victims before they get judged. Police officers with prejudicial attitude towards mental illness are likely to stigmatize people with mental illness and hence constitute security lapses in the nation’s criminal justice system. There is a lack of emphatic concern by the police officers in dealing with people with mental illness; the mentally ill may withdraw to their shell.”
It is therefore noted that “there is a need for inclusion of the role of psychologist to train police officers on the knowledge of mental illness, adherence to zero tolerance for stigmatisation of people with mental illness and to give intervention to police officers on empathic altruism and concern.”
“The stigmatization is further demonstrated in that 96.3% of caregivers say working conditions, transportation to get to the service is not insured. 92.6% of the staff say that all care is given based on a rolling crisis services by care who comes in two service or three days a week and the rest of the day, he rests at home…….. and administration of patient care based on standards and the promotion of mental health is applied by caregivers that in 11.8% of cases. “
