Sitawa Wafula and “My Mind, My Funk”
- EA2021
- Feb 19, 2021
- 3 min read
Updated: May 3, 2021
Mental health is a health concern that permeates all layers of society and areas of the globe.In 2019, Kenyan President Kenyatta declared that the country was facing a mental health crisis. In a report published by the Ministry of Health, the state of Kenya’s healthcare infrastructure to deal with the ongoing mental health crisis was documented. To summarize the findings: the report found that, on the state level, around 75% of Kenyans did not have access to mental health care out of a population of around 52.5 million (2019), the government spent only 0.01% of its health budget on mental health care, and that there were just 92 registered psychiatrists (2017).However, important to note is also the presence of non-state funded, community-based resources which were not considered in this report that also provide help to people in need of support throughout Kenya. The report dedicated a section to discrimination and stigmas that people with mental illnesses often face, where lack of awareness furthermore reinforces narratives that ostracize people with mental illnesses within some community settings as well. As the Kenyan Government addresses thesechallenges, such as adapting the WHO’s Global Mental Health Action plan 2013-2020,advocates and leaders in civil society have also taken action.
The mental health advocate, activist, and entrepreneur, SitawaWafula started writing about her experiences online after facing discrimination in the workplace due to her mental health issues.Her blog began acting as a resource and gathering place for people facing similar issues and a year later, in 2014, she was awarded 25,000 USDby Google in recognition for her work on the blog. She used the money to create “My Mind My Funk,” (MMMF) a free mental health and epilepsy support hotline and the first of its kind in Kenya. MMMF now serves as both a support line, a resource, and a stigma-combating information source for people in Kenya with the goal of alsonormalizing mental health for all Africans as well as Africans in the diaspora. Wafula achieves this by collaborating with health advocates and activists all over the continent and beyond to start conversations, learn from their experiences, and create safe spaces as well as a supportive community. One of the ways in which she connects to people around the worldis through a podcast, which is currently entering its third season, peoplewithvarious sets of expertise and experiences discuss matters self-care and the impact that culture, technology, and other forces have on this. Besides the podcast, the MMMF hotline is accessible through text for free from any network where general inquiries are met with automated responses and people in crisis can talk to a licensed therapist online. Over the past 8 years, Wafula has continued to connect people and mental health advocates by, for example,organizing and hostingmeetings between mental health advocates and professionals, participating on a legislative level, and continuing to provide support for people who need it.
The MMMF hotline now receives around 25,000 texts per year and has helped around 11,000 people in Kenya alone. Wafula was also involved in a committee which helped develop Kenya’s mental health policy for 2030, participating in making changes on the governmental level since Kenya’s mental health sector has not been addressed or updated in years. While MMMF has helped many Kenyans and is doing work to normalize and destigmatize mental health related issues throughout Kenya and beyond, the continued lack of funding for mental health and ongoing stigma, create challenges for state level approaches. An active civil society, as exhibited by the example of Sitawa Wafula’s organization and engagement, and community approaches however succeed in advocating for, implementing change, and providing support where necessary. Community based approaches have been recommended by government and scholars alike and, because of activists like Wafula, have they been able to reach people and provide support when needed. Wafula is an entrepreneur and activist who was able to turn her experiences into a positive force for change within Kenya and beyond through her honesty, candor, and philanthropy, helping thousands of people receive mental health support where it would otherwise not be (easily) accessible.
Authors: Nina Technow, Sophia Klaußner, Milena Stoilova, and Ricky Maggioni
Sources:
“Fighting the ‘funk:’ How One Kenyan Battles Her Mental Health Problems by Helping Others.” The World from PRX, 3 Mar. 2015, www.pri.org/stories/2015-03-03/fighting-funk-how-one-kenyan-battles-her-mental-health-problems-helping-others.
Kenya Mental Health Policy 2015-2030, Ministry of Health, August 2015,
Ministry of Health, Republic of Kenya. “Mental Health Task Force Report - Mental Health and Wellbeing Towards Happiness & National Prosperity.” The Taskforce on Mental Health, 15 Oct. 2020
Mental Health Atlas, Kenya Profile, 2017,
“NCBI Bookshelf.” NCBI, 2015, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK350312.
Wafula, Sitawa. “Why I Speak up about Living with Epilepsy.” TED Talks, uploaded by TED, 23 May 2017, www.ted.com/talks/sitawa_wafula_why_i_speak_up_about_living_with_epilepsy?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare.
“Www.Mymindmyfunk.Com.” My Mind My Funk, 2014, mmmf.squarespace.com.
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