Another new home

Met another family today, who have also made a new home for themselves in Belfast - but with a very different story. The Mum travelled while pregnant, with her 2 daughters from Somalia, to Kuwait, to Italy, to Sweden, back to Italy, and finally to Belfast - a journey which took over 2 years.

What a strong woman. I can’t imagine the resilience that must take. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg of her story, surely...who knows what, or who, she’s had to say goodbye to. Without knowing how or where they are now. What her situation was like that made it a better option to travel in horrific conditions, than to stay in the home she knew. How lonely and confusing it must feel to be uprooted, starting a life in a new place with a culture and language completely unknown.

Joined an event this evening run by Liverpool Uni’s Psychiatry Society - very topically, one of the 2 speakers was a psychiatrist who works solely with those seeking asylum in the UK.

The other speaker was a Christian missionary in Malawi for 6 years - where she worked as the only psychiatrist for a population of 10 million people. An incredibly humble lady, who recognised the need for local training - and so that’s what was put in place. The standard practice was that people suffering with mental health difficulties were put in chains, or locked in asylums. But now local enthusiasts are being equipped and encouraged, community mental health projects have been established, and patient’s lives are being transformed.