#hugSitawa campaign

4:38:00 AM

Ten years ago at the age of 18, I was raped, I got really depressed, I was suicidal and got a mental health condition I have to date. I had to drop out of Actuarial school due to lack of a support system and medical support was way too expensive. I was later fired from a job due to ignorance.
My name is Sitawa Wafula, founder - my mind, my funk (because our minds are our cool factors, you lose your cool, you lose you); a mental health resource centre for people with mental health conditions and their families.
Currently, 1 in every 4 Kenyans will experience a mental health condition in their lifetime. This narrows down to each and every household in this country having a brush with either bipolar, depression, suicide, alcohol and substance abuse disorders, just to mention a few.
...All these households will have to compete for the services of 79 psychiatrists serving a population of 40 million Kenyans.
...All these households will also compete for space in one referral hospital what is understaffed, underfunded and overcrowded.
...And like me, all these households will not have a proper support system.
my mind, my funk believes in a Kenya where persons with mental health conditions receive appropriate support and have access to information. My initial project campaign, #hugSitawa, is a six months campaign to establish an information hub and hotline. I plan to do this through digital storytelling where I will teach writing therapy which has really helped me in my journey and use the blogs, journals and poems as sources of information and edutainment. This will be a therapeutic process for the participants who will then get into support groups either online or offline to help them with their journey.
It took a hug from Bill Clinton for the HIV movement to be where it is, I invite you to take the mental health movement there and beyond by SIMPLY GIVING ME A HUG!!!
You give me one through;
1. Being a #hugSitawa ambassador and simply sharing my project idea with as many people as you can; tweet them, email, send a whatsapp broadcast, FB them, text, call, blog about it, tattoo yourself (:
2. Share any blog post that interests you from my blog; http://sitawa.blogspot.com search for the following;
- My rape ordeal
- Video of my twitching from the side videos
- My seizure affair
- Conjestina is and will always be the queen of Africa
3. Contribute an investment of any amount for initial capital (from as little as Ksh 50 through the 1% site (Read more herefrom the one percent club site) - target Ksh 600,000) to set up an information hub and hotline (toll free)  that will provide information and establish support systems for Kenyan households. A lot of Conjestinas are disappearing because of something as manageable as mental illness, lets reverse this.
4. Create information material to create awareness about mental health, suicide and #hugSitawa campaign
- Posters with QR codes to #hugsitawa campaign site(which someone should design as part of their support)
- Photoshoots
- Memes
- YouTube or Instagram videos,
- Social media campaigns,
- Branded material/Novelties
5. Make your space (office, room, desk) a #hugSitawa zone for a day or week or month or the whole 6 months by simply printing out paper (before I make posters and stickers)indicating that it is a #hugSitawa zone and everyone has to tweet using that tag at least once when in that space either as a check in or saying they are hugging sitawa to save class 8 students from committing suicide and help them see high school or anything to support the campaign or simply organise #hugSitawa meet ups and hang outs.
6. Giving me a hug for real and caption it or virtually;drop me some love on twitter or on email [email protected]
7. Use #hugSitawa, #mymindmyfunk, #mhke at least once a day in all your conversations for the next six months.
- #hugSitawa and save the Conjestina of our time from disappearing,
- #hugSitawa and enable a Class 8 student see Form 1 next year
- #hugSitawa and prevent a policeman from shooting himself and his whole family
-#hugSitawa and help reduce the mental health statistics from every household having a brush to every village or province(dreams are good)   
8. Give me CRAZY ideas to run a successful and impactful six months mental health awareness campaign.
9. Make this your email signature;
Give Sitawa a hug by simply sharing this link #hugSitawa campaign http://sitawa.blogspot.com/2013/09/hugsitawa-campaign.html
10. Change your social media name to #hugSitawa for as long or as short as you can; I prefer long, 6 months long to be precise.

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7 comments

  1. i love your spirit gal....be strong

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  2. You are an angel. Inspiration to many.Thank you.

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  3. amazin amazin!!!!am watchin u on AM live...

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  4. Awww!! Gal! GOD be with you always ((*hug*))!

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  5. Na Hiyo Ni Maendeleo.Wewe ni Lioness.Arap Moi

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  6. Rising above everything! You have inspired me...all the best.

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  7. Just Awesome....keep doing what you do....it touches lotsa hearts.....a blessing

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