RABNI Concludes Pilot of its Mental Health Initiative

Beneficiaries displaying their paper arts. Photo copyright @RABNI

Healthy Hands, Healthy Minds is an initiative of RABNI Education Interventions designed to improve the learning outcomes of vulnerable students with art and counselling support.

This initiative was executed in partnership with the The Why Now Project: a mental health focused organisation with the necessary skillsets and experience to support a successful pilot.

Pilot Details

18 young girls between the ages of 11-15 at the Durumi Internally Displaced Persons Camp benefited from the program.

30% of these girl’s are out of school

Beneficiaries have a background of experiences with insurgency and herdsmen community invasions that have led to them fleeing their villages.

This demographic constitutes the bottom of the pyramid group, and are classified as vulnerable at-risk of dropping out students.

Pilot Activities

Counselling session with Child Pyschologist.

Mrs Vivian Okoye, a Child Psychologist and parenting coach gave each child a personal counselling session that included a critical look at their current mental state, and recommendations for improvement. Signs of depression were identified and followup is scheduled.

A one-on-one baseline survey with each beneficiary.

Before commencement of art activities, each beneficiary participated in a survey that further analyses their mental well-being, and their expectations for the program. The results from these baselines verify the existence of mental health issues among these context of learners and it’s effects on their school performances.

Paper crafts session

Children were guided to make a variety of paper craft projects.

“Arts experiences boost critical thinking, teaching students to take the time to be more careful and thorough in how they observe the world. The arts provide challenges for learners at all levels. Art education connects students with their own culture as well as with the wider world.” – senecaacademy

Studies have shown that expressing oneself through art can help with depression and anxiety. And doing so has been linked to improved memory, reasoning, and resilience.

To bring this workshop to your school, students or community, do contact us.

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