Caregivers lend healing balm to returnees in Kiphire

Our Correspondent
Kohima, Sep. 24 (EMN): In a noble venture, a group of ‘caring individuals’ in Kiphire district has formed an organisation called “Circle of Caregivers” with a mission to reach out to the returnees and helpe them overcome mental trauma of losing their jobs and other opportunities due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The organisation was initiated by a woman named Suminho Aye from Grassroots Empowerment Kiphire, in collaboration with the Kiphire district administration and Nehru Yuva Kendra (NYK), Kiphire, through CM Corpus Fund. The training partners are Serendip Guardians, an NGO working on mental health, and the Initiatives of Change (IoFC), a worldwide organisation.

Eastern Mirror spoke with the initiator Aye, who briefed about the organisation.

She explained that “Circle of Caregivers” is a mental health initiative by a group of individuals to reach out to the returnees of Kiphire district, who returned from across the country due to Covid-19 crisis. The objective of the organisation, according to her, was to address mental health issues faced by the returnees and also to normalise the concept of mental health in the society.

“We are a team of 23 caregivers providing care and support over phone calls to the returnees who need our care,” she said.

“The initiative was conceptualised during my conversations with returnees, who expressed a sense of uncertainty, fear, and anxiety as they were returning home,” she said. With stigma and discrimination against returnees widely felt and reported in Nagaland, Aye decided to make Covid-19 less menacing and help neutralise the negative socio-behavioural impacts.

To fully understand mental health and equip themselves for proactive intervention in the communities, Aye stated that the caregivers were trained on care-giving skills under the methodologies of Initiatives of Change as well as on mental health by Serendip Guardians.

“We also organised a dialogue on mental health with representatives from the district administration, few student representatives, church leaders and professional counsellors started calling returnees on September 22,” she informed.

She asserted that they would continue to meaningfully engage with returnees and also promote mental health in the community through slogans such as ‘Let us end the stigma of mental health,’ ‘Let us empathise more and judge less,’ and ‘Together, let us create a caring society’.

“As we know there is no health without mental health (WHO), let us take this pandemic as an opportune time to pause, to reflect and nurture our minds, and others around us,” Aye said. She also expressed gratitude to all the individuals and organisations for their support.

Some of the messages from the caregivers are:

“I am happy to be a caregiver, I choose to listen with an open heart, with no judgments” – Yutsala from Amahator village.

“A sound mental health creates a peaceful society. As a caregiver, I choose to seek truth and build trust” – Mukamchem from Pungro.

“Mental health has become a serious issue because we fail to listen to each other. As a caregiver, I choose to listen and spread hope” – Ariba Anar from Seyochung village.

“Caregiver for mental health is an important outreach for caring and sharing love in the community” – Lemtsü Tikhir from Kiphire town.

“Knowing that mental health is equally important as our physical health, I choose to promote a courageous conversation on mental health” – Hekani Kiba from Kiphire town.

“I dream of a community where we all help one another and live in harmony, sharing each other’s joys and sorrows” – Ariba Yingbithongrü from Thangthure village.

“Let us break this unhealthy chain of ignorance and judgements by building trust, courage, and love” – Salin from Singrep village.

“Everybody is going through a hard time during Covid-19 crisis; may we share the sufferings and overcome everything together” – Kumrela from Pungro Town.