By Onyiyechi Roseline Agwu
Hello and welcome here.
In this post, I will be sharing the interview I had with the director of Mental Care Foundation which is based in Nigeria. In 2020, Balikis was the only Nigerian selected for the Grow With Us Fellowship in Portland. A fellowship that selects only 11 African women and attaches them to mentors that will help them grow their non-governmental organizations.
I first noticed this NGO via a friend who volunteers and shared their page on twitter. From there, I peeped into what they do and I was impressed. As you read this post, you will see the things that impressed me about them.
O. R. A: Please can you introduce yourself
Balikis Abubakar: My name is Balikis Abubakar. I am the co-founder and Executive director of Mental Care Foundation.
O. R. A: Great. Can you share your favorite things to do?
Balikis Abubakar: I like jogging, running, hanging out with friends, learning new skills and making impacts.
O. R. A: Aside from your position in Mental Care Foundation, what work do you do professionally?
Balikis Abubakar: I am a financial analyst.
O. R. A: Beautiful. Now to your organization. Can you share the inspiration and purpose behind it?
Balikis Abubakar: The inspiration is due to high suicide rates among the youths. The purpose is to raise awareness and to educate people on mental health and make services accessible and affordable by leveraging on existing technologies to make impact regarding mental health in Nigeria.
O. R. A: That is beautiful. When was Mental Care Foundation started?
Balikis Abubakar: Mental Care Foundation started in May 2019.
O. R. A: Okay and approximately how many people are actively participating?
Balikis Abubakar: Founded in 2019, Mental Care Foundation has about 45 volunteers across Nigeria. In addition, our blog – a platform we use to educate our community about mental health, has over monthly 500 readers, learning new things about mental health
O. R. A: Are there particular criteria’s needed to volunteer?
Balikis Abubakar: Yes, our volunteers go through interviews before being selected. We only select the most passionate and hardworking youths to volunteer with us at Mental Care Foundation. At Mental Care Foundation, we put in efforts to help our volunteers grow. We believe you cannot give what you don’t have. We equip our volunteers with soft skills and mental health knowledge, so they can be change agents. So if you are not hardworking and passionate, you can’t perform well at Mental Care Foundation.
O. R. A: Wow.. Other criteria’s like being a professional psychologist or being in any other professional fields of work regarding mental health are not top priority?
Balikis Abubakar: As a volunteer with MCF, you don’t need medical certificates. Except if you want to volunteer as a counselor for our free counseling helpline called JO. If you want to volunteer as a counselor with Mental Care Foundation, you will need to be certified and have experience. However if you just want to volunteer by adding your voice to mental awareness in Nigeria, all you need to have is the passion.
O. R. A: Beautiful. Can you share your achievements so far?
Balikis Abubakar MCF: Our major achievements has been:
1. Launching Fitila: Fitila has helped over 100 people get free emotional support. It is Nigeria’s first digital and anonymous emotional health service that anonymously and securely connects individuals to real listeners in one-on-one live chat.
2. Launching a free counseling helpline called JO during the coronavirus lockdown. JO has been a safe space to several youths since we started.
3. Organizing mental health awareness webinars that had a cumulative of over 1000 participants from across Nigeria.
O. R. A: Wow…beautiful. I am using this word a lot. What are your challenges?
Balikis Abubakar: One of the key challenges has been access to funds. For now Mental Care Foundation has been bootstrapping, so we can have traction and probably start applying for grants. We have some key projects that need funding. For example, Fitila is only available via the web. We want to build a mobile app version of Fitila. We need funds for that. Another challenge is keeping our volunteers motivated. MCF operates majorly through our volunteers. Volunteers are assigned tasks and supervisors. Keeping volunteers motivated is another challenge.
O. R. A: Are there appropriate avenues to contribute for the funding?
Balikis Abubakar: We are working on setting up appropriate channels to accept funds. This should be ready by quarter of this year. However, anyone can still donate to our projects by contacting us directly. We have been able to manage keeping our volunteers motivated by having regular check-ins with volunteers and organizing team bonding activities.
O. R. A: Okay, that is great then. Back to the purpose of Mental Care Foundation. Based on observation and data collected by MCF, what are the highest causes of mental health decline among the youths (especially in Nigeria and other parts of the world)?
Balikis Abubakar: I will say it is stress. The stress level in Nigeria is really high. I saw a video recently of almost all passengers in a BRT bus, sleeping through their journey home.This video really drives home the point. People are stressed and tired. If stress level is not properly managed, it could lead to burnout and other more complicated mental health conditions. Another observation is the level of poverty in Nigeria and Africa. I have observed that poverty and poor mental well-being are positive related. On a final note, mental health services in Nigeria are very expensive. Most people can not afford it and this leaves a negative impact on their mental well being.
O. R. A: I agree. I would add that attention to mental health problems have only recently began to have a proper understanding in our continent. So what regions does MCF cover for now and hope to cover in the future?
Balikis Abubakar: Most of our solutions leverage technology, so that gives us the superpower to spread our impact beyond borders. However, one of our solutions called MCF Campus Clubs is only available in south western tertiary institutions. We hope to expand our campus clubs to tertiary institutions in other regions in Nigeria, very soon.
O. R. A: Southern tertiary institutions in Nigeria, right?
Balikis Abubakar: Yes.
O. R. A: Okay. What organizations do you hope to collaborate with, either in Nigeria, Africa or in other parts of the world?
Balikis Abubakar: We look forward to collaborating with other NGOs in mental health advocacy space such as She Writes Woman and also we look forward to partnering with HMOs to give Nigerians access to mental health services.
O. R. A: HMOs should mean Health Medical Officers, right?
Balikis Abubakar: No. It means Health Maintenance Organizations.
O. R. A: What advice would you give the readers regarding mental health awareness?
Balikis Abubakar: My pieces of advice to readers regarding mental health:
1. It is your responsibility to protect your mental well-being. If a place is too toxic for you, leave.
2. “Problem no Dey finish, try to Dey enjoy”
3. You will be surprised by how sleep can solve many problems and ensure you sleep well.
O. R. A: We will take note of these. Can you kindly share Mental Care Foundation’s contacts?
Balikis Abubakar:
website: www.mentalcare.life
Email: hello@mentalcare.life
Our social media handles are
Instagram: @mcarefoundation
Twitter: @mcarefoundation
Facebook: @mcarefoundation
O. R. A: Thank you so much for participating in this interview and for lending your voice.
Balikis Abubakar: Thank you so much for your time as well and the opportunity.
I love mental health awareness programs and I appreciate those who are lending their voices to educate and provide help as well. Do not hesitate to reach out to Mental Care Foundation via the contacts for assistance and if you would like to support or volunteer, do not hesitate as well.
Your comments are warmly welcomed.
