On Saturday 1st September 2018, Janis Bayley (Northampton District MWiB President and Mary Gill (District MWiB Forum representative) attended the ‘Mindful Me’ launch event with the Inini Initiative Ltd, at St Andrew’s Methodist Church, Leicester.
‘Inini’ means ‘Me – myself’ in Shona.
The meeting opened with devotions led by the Rev’d Novette Headley, Superintendent Minister of the Leicester West Circuit and the Rev’d Robert Kasema, Minister of the church.
The pattern of the day, attended by approximately 25 people over the course of the day, was introduced by Last Mafuba, one of the leaders of this Community Interest Company.
Roger Lincoln, who has Asperger’s syndrome, gave a very moving, humorous and informative account of what life was like living with this condition and how a better understanding of the reactions and thought processes of those with Asperger’s would make life easier.We then heard the life story of Dolly Nsiduma, whose husband had suffered from stress and depression but was not able to talk about this to anyone, not even his wife.
Last explained how the group had been set up to try to address these issues both for carers and family of those living with a mental health condition or illness particularly within BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) communities. There was also discussion on the more difficult issue of encouraging those suffering from anxiety, stress, and depression to come forward to speak about how they felt, as mental health is still a ‘taboo’ subject especially for men. They were also concerned about the mental problems within the 2nd generation born in the UK, living with their parents cultural expectations at home, but at school and college living in contemporary youth culture.
In groups, the way forward was discussed and ideas shared
The group want to create a ‘safe’ space where people feel able to come to share their concerns and find ways of helping.
Mary Gill October 2018
