A group of 13 Rwandan youths have come together to create a platform that will help persons with mental illness in Rwanda, with services available free of charge and anonymously. The organisation dubbed Hear2Share, was started by young Rwandans aged between 18 and 30, started in January 2021 and has so far helped patients using different online platforms such as talks Twitter spaces. They have also appeared on radio and television. This comes after the number of people committing suicide in the country, a challenge that is linked to mental health. A total of 576 people in Rwanda have committed suicide in the last two years according to a survey carried out by Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB). With the latest World Health Organisation (WHO) figures showing that one person dies every 40 seconds, suicide is the second leading cause of death in young people between 15-29 years after road injury. The statistics mean that suicide-related death is over 800,000 every year. Maeva Bazilia Rusamaza, the founder of Hear2Share told The New Times that after seeing many young lives lost to depression and the suicide rate pilling up in Rwanda, she felt the need to help change the lives of persons with mental health cases especially the youth, starting by creating awareness around the associated challenges. This, she said, can be made easier using different social media platforms such as weekly space talks on Twitter, talks on Rwanda televisions and radio stations, which Hear2share have already started gaining momentum. “Right now, I would say that there are a large number of people dealing with mental health issues in Rwanda, especially the young generation and some of them don’t even know that they have mental health issues. There is still a lot to do to help our youth,” said Rusamaza. On how Hear2Share connects with patients, Rusamaza said that they have a form that helps seekers complete in order to get in touch with Hear2Share, and the person completing it is allowed to use pseudo names, email or anything they feel uncomfortable to share. “We do this to ensure that the person’s anonymity is respected. We then respond to them with the provided phone number and get to talk to them.” “Depression is real and seeking help does not make you a weak person, it means that you are strong indeed. Please get to us. We can help you save your life for free” she said in a direct appeal to patients. According to her, 20 per cent of their patients have completely healed and others are recovering slowly, according to Rusamaza. About Hear2Share Hear2Share is an online non-government and non-profit organization that helps people dealing with mental health issues for free and anonymously. All the 13 members work as volunteers in the organisation and they mainly use platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. It has entered partnership with Rwanda Mental Health in Practice (RMHP), You Matter Initiative (YMI), Build2Heal, UAM, JURU Initiative and many others. Their objectives include raising awareness about mental health, reduce stigma associated with mental illness, promote help-seeking behaviours and emotional well-being practises, prevent suicide through individual education and outreach events and provide affordable mental health services in Rwanda.
