Other Than’s Mental Health: Uniting Voices for Healing and Community.

Other Than’s Mental Health: Uniting Voices for Healing and Community

Date: Sat Sep 09 2023

Time: 10:45 AM – onwards

Location: 82-92 Whitechapel Road, London, E1 1JQ

Description: Join us for an empowering event focused on mental health – Other Than’s Mental Health: Uniting Voices for Healing and Community. This in-person gathering aims to bring together individuals from all walks of life to share their experiences, support one another, and foster a sense of community. Through engaging discussions, inspiring talks, and interactive workshops, we will explore various aspects of mental health and well-being. Whether you’re seeking guidance or simply want to connect with like-minded individuals, this event offers a safe space for open conversations and personal growth. Together, we can break the stigma surrounding mental health and build a stronger, more resilient community. Mark your calendars and be a part of this transformative experience!

WASSOR Womanity, with the generosity of Al Khair Foundation, presents their first event in London on Saturday, 9 September 2023.

Other Than’s Mental Health: Uniting Voices for Healing and Community.

In the heart of London, a groundbreaking event named “Other Than’s Mental Health” is set to unfold, aims to bring together individuals who work with those with lived experiences of mental health, and who have been marginalised in research, research participation, and healing. The all-day gathering seeks to foster open conversations and dialogues, shining a light on the challenges faced by these underrepresented communities.

The event begins with a warm atmosphere, offering tea and coffee while Bineta Thiam the president of the association WASSOR Womanity presents its impactful goals and how it ties in with her PhD in Critical Psychology and Race at Nottingham Trent University. Bineta is also a brilliant community organiser who has single-handedly started a women-focus nonprofit, WASSOR Womanity, that is focused on destigmatising psychological awareness and distress for severely under-served population: Senegalese young people and women. In addition, Bineta and Nadia Greenspan have been recently co-leading a weekly open support group for Senegalese women. The group has twelve contributors. In addition, WASSOR W. has had just under half a million interactions with people on social media. WASSOR W. has also introduced the most prevalent disorders and has started training about nineteen students mental health champions at a university in Senegal and has been solicited by another university. Bineta is passionate about contributing to the regeneration of local ways of knowing and healing psychological distress in Senegal and with the collaboration of her peoples, she is resourceful and full of creativity and wisdom. After her quick presentation, you are invited to join our distinguished speaker, Sister Mushtag Kahin in a dialogue about Transcultural Leadership in Mental Health Care.

Mushtag Kahin has been working in the NHS since 2012 and was quick to discover discrepancies, thus she took up various positions including health advocacy, and mental health services since 2016. Currently, she works in the adult community service in Brent and is a recently elected Governor representing nursing staff. Her passion lies in transcultural care, anti-racism, and transcultural leadership. Since 2015, Mushtag has volunteered with Hayaan, a part of Mind in Harrow, where she provides workshops and awareness information to the Somali community in Harrow and Shepherds Bush. In her work, Mushtag emphasises the crucial role of transcultural leadership in promoting overall wellbeing and shares valuable insights into addiction.

After a midday break for lunch and midday prayers, our beloved Sister Mushrrat Ahmed-Landeryou takes the stage with her topic, “In a Collectivist Society Why Should Women be Central in Healing.” she is Associate Professor in Occupational Therapy at London South Bank University (LSBU), two days weekly she is a Student Success and Antiracist Education Practitioner for the Allied Health Professions’ (AHPs) school. She leads the decolonising agenda for AHP curricula at LSBU. Musharrat is a part-time PhD student, summary topic: people-designed service improvement. She is co-founder of BAMEOTUK, a network of Black and Minoritised Heritages occupational therapy students, practitioners and educators campaigning to disrupt the status quo of institutional racism/discrimination in the profession and professional body for equity. She takes a collaborative and collective approach to projects, and views change from an intersectional feminist approach. She has written in books, and journals, and attends national and international events/conferences discussing decolonising in occupational therapy and health/social care for equity in service provision.

Next in line is a keynote speaker our brother Abdirahim Hassan, from Coffee Afrique. Who with his team goes by the motto, “Effectiveness is not only based on words but, on the actions of endeavours.” In 2018, Brother Abdi and his team introduced the world’s first Somali crisis café, catering to the homeless, domestic abuse victim-survivors, and individuals struggling with addiction. Over time, the crisis café expanded its services to offer peer support for distressed individuals, providing a relaxed, non-clinical environment for conversations. They have a team of specialist support staff who collaborates with local health partners to ensure comprehensive care. Brother Adbi will be in a conversation with Brother Yunus Mohamed.

Yunus Mohamed, a BSc (Hons) in Professional Counselling holder from the University of Salford, is a member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). He founded the BCOM Counselling service in Bolton in 2007 after working as a Mental Health Community Development Worker. With 19 years of counselling experience, Yunus supports clients from diverse backgrounds, addressing mental health issues, marital problems, anger management, and more. He employs an eclectic counselling approach, rooted in Islamic values for Muslim clients. His counselling background draws from the Rogerian approach of unconditional positive regard, empathy, and genuineness. In 2019, he received the National Mental Health Award.

“Other Than’s Mental Health” holds a deeper purpose to fundraise for essential activities in Senegal. Though conscious of the event being on British soil and the power dynamic at play. Bineta Thiam, the president of WASSSOR Womanity and the event organiser, is both British and Senegalese. The event is not another Global North saving the Global South futile exercise, but rather a transaction. That is, a group of professionals have come together to share their wealth of knowledge with those who wish to attend, it is political. The voices are from the peripheries within the UK. And due to limited freedom of movement from Senegal to the UK, participation could not be equitable, and the voice from Senegal will not be heard loudly enough. However, as the event unfolds, the Somali community plays a vital role, stepping in for the Senegalese caterer (Little Baobab, who were overbooked, please show them love and support), and participating in the dialogue. Which symbolises the unity and the nurture of love Bineta Thiam experiences in her adoptive community of Somali elder women. “Other Than’s Mental Health” is an embodiment of unity, where cultural connections and second communities converge to empower each other. The dialogues will be monitored by the distinguished psychotherapists Marcela Levy Lòpez and Farideh Dizadji.