The Purpose of the Mental Health Workshops
The beating heart of the Mental Health Projects are the Morning Workshops. These workshops are active and engaging and are designed with our partners to be cross-cultural and impactful. If you were in any doubt about what the purpose of this is, read below.
The Purpose
The Morning Workshops on a Mental Health Project aim to stimulate conversation on the subject at a grassroots level. The discussions and activities themselves are taking place on behalf of our partners who are utilising international participants as a fantastic opportunity for these discussions to take place whilst also using the project itself as an outreach for existing initiatives, tailored to guide everyone involved to reflect on important topics and become leaders within their communities. Through fun and engaging collaboration with young Fijians of a similar age to yourself, we explore new perspectives, ideas and activities to promote positive mental health. In line with the Fiji National Development Plan, and organisations such as Youth Champs 4 Mental Health, the long term aim is to equip Fiji’s youth with the tools to be ambassadors for mental health awareness, understanding and support in their communities.
The initiative also comes with the overriding purpose of encouraging attributes and awareness amongst young people in rural areas of Fiji, the leaders of tomorrow, where future change is made real in the next generation.
Funding from your participation also not only funds the initiative itself but contributes to year-round support the Think Pacific Foundation provides to our local partners and the community you visit.
Fijian Ambassadors for Mental Health
Crucial to the whole project is investing in Fiji’s youth to create sustainable solutions, capacity building and achieve mental health promotion long term. Your project is the first introduction, conversation and activity surrounding mental health in rural areas. What follows is 7 steps to achieve the training of local Fijian ambassadors, and implementation of sustainable local mental health support in rural villages.
Empowering Fiji’s Youth = Sustainability & Long Term Change
The long term aim is to help build communities that are knowledgeable and resilient in addressing issues surrounding mental health, providing support to community members facing mental health difficulties and establishing an enabling environment where local people are able to interact with others, contribute effectively to community decision making processes and be included in mental health activities.
Training of local youth ambassadors is delivered by leading mental health NGO’s and the Fijian Ministry of Health and funded by Think Pacific Foundation. 30% of your project fee funds the work of our Fijian charity.
Intended Learning Outcomes
For You
- Developing inter-cultural competence and ability to successfully communicate within a foreign cultural environment.
- Adaptability to changes in your own and foreign cultures.
- Tolerance: while working in teams, learn to listen more attentively, to respect each other’s opinion, team-work and team-spirit.
- Personal Skills: personability and set-up of sessions allows you to grow in confidence and communication.
- Appreciation of diversity: appreciation of the opinions and values of others, sensitivity to cultural diversity, and becoming more aware of your own context.
- Broader Perspective: Reconsider the cultural framework you have been brought up in and acquire skills that will enable you to observe and analyse encounters with diversity and to extend these beyond the framework of your own culture.
- Critical thinking.
- Soft skills: Presentation skills, time management, resilience, communication.
For Community Youth Members
- Engaging in topics that may be taboo subjects and coming to reflect on how they may be responded to on a community level.
- To encourage personal growth in the form of a boost in confidence, communication skills, team working, leadership, time management and presentation skills.
- Financial support for those involved and the youth group of the community.
- Any outstanding individuals can be highlighted for scholarship / employment opportunities.
- Appreciation of diversity: appreciation of the opinions and values of others, sensitivity to cultural diversity, and becoming more aware of their culture.
- Broader Perspective: Reconsider the cultural framework they have been brought up in and to acquire skills that will enable them to observe and analyse encounters with diversity and to extend these beyond the framework of their culture.
- Critical thinking.