Joan Targett, Consultancy Programme Officer Strong Black Woman Attitude – black matriarchal woman, don’t show weakness, can handle everything, uphold community and be strong for the family. That mentality is damaging, not to be able to show weakness, emotions or share feelings you accept whatever comes at you, good or bad, and must take on whatever and not react. This all has a damaging effect on Mental health and one’s wellbeing. Mental health is not openly spoken about in African cultures and if people discuss or it manifests more physically, they see you as mad. My mother trained as a nurse and met my father, a doctor in one of the main hospitals in Kampala. Unfortunately, the marriage did not work out for them and she returned to her village to train as a teacher with a passion to set up primary education for boys and girls in her community. Over several years this school grew and developed into a reputable boarding and day Private Primary school. Families in the city would send their children to Aunt Agnes’s Primary School. (my mother’s name). The school’s performance continued to get better and each year was at the top of District level in exam results. My mother used to supplement the education for local kids who could not afford the full fees with the money she received from students coming from the city. The kids handwriting, English and Maths was second to none. I visited the school back in 2016 with my family and we were truly impressed with the work these children were producing. Unfortunately, after several years this success led others to become jealous and started to take advantage of my mother’s kindness and openness by stealing and being dishonest. In the end my mother passed suddenly with immense stress, a broken heart and extreme disappointment caused by betrayal of people she thought she could trust. My brothers, the local church and I kept the school safe with 700+ children going until COVID hit in March 2020. Since then, all schools have been shut and the government has no scheme to support them. The school will re-open at the end of October, but only for Year 7’s initially. Although I have not had problems with mental health myself, I have learnt from my mothers’ story about the importance of talking things through. I recently had the opportunity to share my story and tips on addressing mental health issues on Ugandan National Television, this was very well received because it’s not something people openly talk about in that culture and was an eye opener for people to learn that we are stronger together.

For support on this topic please visit Wellbeing at University of Surrey