We help underserved communities access critical services
Mission
Our mission is to improve lives through people-centered programs in mental health, nutrition, hygiene, and humanitarian response, delivered with compassion, evidence, and local ownership.
Vision
We envision resilient communities where every person, especially the most vulnerable, has the tools and support to thrive in health, dignity, and self-determination.
Community Service Impact
Mental health hotline services 2022-date
In a country with limited mental health facilities and significant stigma around seeking help, the mental health tollfree hotline system serves as a vital entry point into the care pathway. We partner with the Suicide Research and Prevention Initiative (SURPIN) to support a toll-free 24 hours mental health hotline system.
What we do: We provide the infrastructure and trained hotline receivers to man the hotline system, providing confidential counselling, information, and location-specific referral services. Specialists from SURPIN’s network are always available to receive referrals.
SURPIN conducts several awareness campaigns to increase awareness of the toll-free hotline system, which reduces the barriers of location, waiting time, and transportation problems. We regularly analyze data from the calls and client feedback to identify trends and patterns and evaluate the performance indicators to ensure the quality and effectiveness of the service.
Achievements
In the past two years, we have received over 1900 calls, and we follow up with callers who consent to ensure that they received services and support.
- More than 80 specialist referrals made.
- Several suicides averted.
- Reported improvements in callers’ mental well-being, including reduced symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress.
Some articles about out work are here: Exploring the Characteristics of Callers to Mental Health Emergency Hotlines in Nigeria https://www.clinical-medicine.panafrican-med-journal.com/content/article/14/27/full/ )
Exploring Sociodemographic Predictors of Suicide Ideation and Attempts: Insights from Mental Health Emergency Hotline Data (DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12677946).
School Safety in NE Nigeria (2016)
The Reading and Numeracy Activity (RANA) was a three-year pilot project implemented in Katsina and Zamfara states of Northern Nigeria and was funded by UNICEF under the Girl's Education Project Phase Three (GEP3). The project's primary objective was to improve reading and numeracy among girls and boys in their first three grades of primary education. The project targets 60% urban and rural Government schools and 40% integrated Qur'anic schools in each state.
What we did: We implemented targeted health and safety activities to improve the health and safety compliance of selected schools across the focus 3 LGAs in Katsina State using the SafeZone tool. Safezone is an InSight Health trademarked audit tool developed in collaboration with The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) to assess school health and education standards and safety in schools. We selected schools from the 40 non-treatment intervention schools based on the population of settlement, infrastructure, proximity and population of pupils. We selected 2 schools in each LGA (one for intervention and one for control), i.e. 6 schools across the 3 focus LGAs.
Achievement
The school health and safety re-assessment reflected an over 100% increase in the SafeZone score from the baseline assessment.
- Significant improvement in SafeZone™ scores in all three intervention schools:
- Yandaka Ruma: 2% → 35%
- Hassan Usman: 6% → 37%
- Kaura Abdulkadir: 8% → 41%
- 67% of the safety improvement activities implemented in Year 1.
- Established school-based safety teams and nominated safety champions.
- Training of teachers and safety teams on emergency preparedness, CPR, and first aid (in partnership with Red Cross Society of Nigeria).
Intervention activities included:
- A baseline assessment using SafeZone™ standards,
- Development of customized school safety improvement and evacuation plans, in line with the findings from the baseline assessment.
- Development and dissemination of school health and safety policies,
- Training of school staff on first aid and CPR
- Procurement basic safety equipment like fire extinguishers and stocked first aid boxes,
- A Year 1 follow-up assessment to measure improvements
Distribution of Health Equipment
Somolu
Bariga
Akoka
As part of our focus on supporting quality healthcare service delivery and sustainable interventions, we engaged with and distributed the medical equipment to six primary healthcare facilities in Somolu, Bariga, and Akoka, Lagos State. The equipment included stethoscopes, blood pressure cuffs, and tourniquets.