Sabita and her husband live in poverty with serious mental health problems, but yet they strive to take care of their children. Development cooperation has brought hope to the family’s lives.
The story of Sabita (name changed to protect person’s identity), 29, and her family seems heartbreaking at first. You can watch Sabita’s full story in the Youtube video at the end of this article.
Sabita’s family includes her two children, aged 2 and 8, and her husband. The family lives in Karnali Province of Nepal. Due to the discrimination and stigma experienced by the parents, they had had difficulty finding work or even permanent housing, and the children had been forced to beg for food from neighbors.
Sabita felt her situation was so bleak that she considered suicide. However, she wanted to continue to try her best for the sake of her children.
The development cooperation project of Felm Nepal, implemented by its local partner organization KOSHISH, strives to address the problems of people with psychosocial issues. The project has recently brought hope to the family’s life.
KOSHISH invited the parents to a peer support group, which is led by a trained psychologist and is intended for people living with mental health problems. There, the parents have been able to share their feelings.
Sabita and her family also received a variety of other assistance in the development cooperation project: they were referred to professional assistance, and KOSHISH helped lobby with the local government so that the family could build themselves a decent house. Sabita has also found work taking care of buffaloes in a farm.
Now the future is starting to look a little better. Sabita says she wants to try her best for her family.
Text: Mimosa Hedberg, Senior Communications Specialist, Felm Nepal