Mental Health for Young Mothers in Kilifi, Kenya

One in every four women in Low-Middle Income Countries like Kenya experiences maternal mental health problems. The situation is worse for adolescent and young-adult mothers who, too early, must adjust to the demands of parenting coupled with economic and social disadvantages. These experiences affect their functioning and increase their children's risk of poor development. With a severe lack of adequate services in Kenya, the provision of low-cost mental health intervention is needed.

Our organization provides a low-cost mental health intervention package to young women in rural Kilifi, Kenya, with mental health problems. The mothers are trained to build awareness and grounding during stressful moments; notice and name difficult thoughts; identify and act on values; build compassion and kindness and accept and live with difficult thoughts. Thus they can take proactive steps that encourage positive feelings and be responsive and sensitive caregivers.

However, this program is yet to kick off due to a lack of funding. Our organization will continue appealing for donations from different funders. We hope donors and funders will come on board to support this worthy course. So far, we have developed the full program and identified villages where we will implement the project. We have shared the link to donate with friends, family, and other networks, and we look forward to their engagement and donations. Meanwhile, we continue to raise mental health awareness in rural communities. Individuals can do a free mental health screening test through our interactive website. Additionally, we continue to provide mental health education materials on our website. Our team is working to ensure we engage different stakeholders to start mental health interventions in the community.