Support Healthy Adolescents Development Ibadan

Status: Healthy Adolescence project clubs are now established in 3 community secondary schools in Ibadan

Objective: To Train 150 Secondary school students on mental health issues, soft skills, and mentoring opportunities.

Project Outcome

This project was relevant because Young people between the ages of 10-24 years constitute one-third of Nigeria’s population while adolescents age 10-19 years constitute almost a fifth. Furthermore, this significant but vulnerable population is exposed to a broad range of mental issues (Depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and suicide). A lot of adolescents between the ages of 13 and 19 years are depressed, this leads to low academic performance, social withdrawal from school activities, truancy, substance abuse including alcohol intake, and eventually suicide. These adolescents end up not leading a productive and fulfilling lifestyle.

The Project was effective as 3 community secondary schools, with 150 students learned about choosing the right career, were trained on mental health issues such as depression, suicide and substance abuse, life skills training on communication, problem-solving, and leadership, and teachers were trained to become mental health counselors and mental health school clubs’ coordinators. The Project was efficient, it ran for 6 weeks, and resources were fully utilized. As part of the sustainability plan, mental health clubs are now formed across the three schools, with the trained teachers as coordinators.

Next steps: follow up with the established mental health clubs in 3 secondary schools, and expand to other schools