Care & Support of the Mentally Distressed

In Nepal, treatments for people with mental health problems are either institutionalised, confined to their homes, and/or treated by medications only. We, on the other hand, believe in the importance of creating a safe space for individuals and their families. We initiated the "Welcome Centre Project" in 2013. This project provides a space and welcoming environment, free from judgement or discrimination, to come in and socialise, feel comfortable sharing experiences and seek support. Since the initiation of this project, it has grown and expanded, with 25-30 individuals and their carers coming weekly. We have received 90% of positive feedback from the service users and are grateful to have impacted so many lives. 

Due to the after-effects of COVID-19 and financial constraints, we initially limited the sessions to once a month. But in 2023, we were able to increase them to two times a month. We now provide free sessions twice a month, during which we also offer free home-cooked lunches. Trained staff and volunteers work closely with individuals and groups to provide psychosocial counselling and creative therapies using music, art, meditation, cooking, and outdoor trips. All sessions are tailored to focus on cognitive functioning, motor skills, social skills, and emotional development.

Since the initiation of the Welcome Centre Session, creating a common space and understanding the need for a secure space to get together has grown and expanded its services to mental health community-based services and developed into one of our popular projects.

• Welcome Centre Project (PDF)
  

Hari is a male client in his thirties who experiences auditory hallucinations and persecutory delusions. Hari is dependent on his elderly mother for food, medication and hygiene and is unable to work and he hardly gets out of his home.

At the weekly Welcome Centre conducted by Chhahari, he has limited conversations only with staff and familiar clients and carers. Before the lockdown, field staff visited Hari once per week, primarily to support him with his particularly challenging medication. When provided with a larger supply, on several occasions Hari has taken too much at once.

Unlike many other Chhahari clients, Hari coped relatively well with the lockdown conditions during the COVID times. Even before the lockdown he hardly left the house and didn't care what was happening outside, he enjoyed his bubble. Hari understood the virus and infection prevention but was not worried about it because he met so few people. Being confined to his home had little impact on his normal routine, except for attending the weekly Welcome Centre at Chhahari.Hari loves drawing and playing music, Chhahari provided him with some drawing materials and a guitar.

Hari and his mother struggled to access relief when the lockdown was implemented. At that time a special pass was required to use a vehicle to travel around the city. Chhahari managed the relief efforts coordination with the local wards and other community leaders, to avoid repeating the chaotic organisation of relief after the earthquake. Chhahari were then able to arrange for the ward to deliver food to Hari’s house. Chhahari staff collected and delivered his medication from the hospital. He cannot use the mobile phone on his own therefore, during home visits from Chhahari staff, calls were being made to his friends from the Welcome Centre and he enjoyed talking to them. More generally, many of clients communicated with each other by phone during the lockdown, and the carers even more so, thus preserving and strengthening the network developed through Chhahari.

For Chhahari, this case has been particularly encouraging as isolation has not been the main issue and he seems to have dealt with the situation easily unlike other many challenging cases during the COVID.