Choice Jiya, 43, said she owes her life to the service offered on the benches, having considered suicide when her husband lost his job shortly after she gave birth to their twins in 2005.
HARARE - Sitting next to a patient with depression on a garden bench in Zimbabwe's capital Harare, 70-year-old Shery Ziwakayi speaks gently, offering accessible therapy with a warm and reassuring smile.
Psychiatry professor Dixon Chibanda's concept is simple: a wooden park bench where people experiencing common mental disorders sit and receive free therapy.Decades of economic hardships and deepening poverty have taken a mental toll on many Zimbabweans, imposing a huge burden on underfunded and understaffed psychiatric health services.
His therapy model is now being exported to the football World Cup in Qatar, where 32 benches - each representing a team competing in the FIFA tournament - will be set up to cast the spotlight on global mental health. Other countries to have adopted the friendship bench model include Jordan, Kenya, Malawi, Zanzibar and the US - where 60,000 people in the Bronx and Harlem areas have accessed the therapy.Chibanda's idea of friendship benches germinated after a patient he was treating at a government hospital took her life.
"Through talking to us many have recovered and are leading normal lives again," said Ziwakayi, who received training in basic counselling skills, mental health literacy and problem-solving therapy.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Qatar was the wrong choice for World Cup, says Sepp BlatterFormer Fifa president says the country is too small to host the tournament
Read more »
Firmino Reacts To Brazil World Cup Snub | SoccerladumaOn Tuesday, Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino took to social media to react to being left out of Brazil’s 26-man 2022 FIFA World Cup squad after having amassed 55 appearances for his country.
Read more »
Milla tips African teams to excel at World Cup'Now is a good time to show that Africa has the best football players and the best teams in the world.' Football legend roger_milla_9 believes in Cameroon, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, and Tunisia. Do you?! 🇨🇲🇬🇭🇲🇦🇸🇳🇹🇳⚽️🌍🏆
Read more »
Eto'o makes shock World Cup prediction | KickoffCameroon Football Federation president Samuel Eto'o has made a huge prediction about the outcome of the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup... 🤔 Read more here:
Read more »
OFF TARGET : Boks goal-kicking crisis highlights precarious situation ahead of World CupPoor kicking against Ireland last week was costly for the Springboks, but they don’t have an established and consistent Test kicker to turn to.
Read more »
Ex-FIFA President: Giving Qatar The World Cup Was A Mistake | SoccerladumaDisgraced former FIFA president Sepp Blatter has admitted that awarding the 2022 FIFA World Cup to Qatar was a mistake. SLInt MORE:
Read more »