Windhoek, Namibia —
Poverty, family discord, despair and learning disabilities are some of the reasons why children, sometimes as young as 9, take their own lives. The Namibia Occupational Therapists Association on Saturday brought together children, parents and health workers to teach children how to cope and adapt to adult life.
When Samuel Njambali was 11 years old, he and his peers started drinking and smoking.
This disruptive behavior led to fights at school and poor grades.
His grandmother helped him get back on his feet.
Njambali, who is currently an occupational therapy intern, spoke at a #Be Free Youth Campus workshop on Saturday about the impact of substance abuse on adolescents' mental health and the role of occupational therapy in treating and correcting negative behavioral patterns.
“Occupational therapists are professionals who help drug users quit, helping them rehabilitate through activity,” he told VOA. “So we help them restructure their daily activities, change their routines to give more structure to their habits, so that they don't have free time or opportunities to use drugs.”
The event was organised by Karlien Burger from the Namibian Association of Occupational Therapists and was attended by over 150 students, parents, teachers and health professionals.
Given Namibia's apartheid and colonial past, her people have experienced intergenerational trauma that is manifesting itself in poor mental health, she said.
She said that as an occupational therapist, she hopes to work with families from an early age to help them change their children's behavior towards healthier lifestyles.
“There are a lot of mental health issues, and because these issues are starting earlier and earlier, we wanted to take a proactive and preventative approach. That's why we're looking at adolescent mental health and its different aspects today at this event: emotional development and how to look after it, how to prevent substance use, how to support the adolescent learning process, and finally, spirituality and how we can foster a well-being-promoting spirituality in our day-to-day work.”
Monica Amukoto, a student who took part in the event, said she gained a greater understanding of how her body works and how to communicate her limitations to her parents and peers.
She said increased awareness in the community could help kids like her avoid common substance abuse problems.
“I actually learned about self-love, how to manage your emotions as a young person. We meet a lot of young people every day,” she said, “how to manage your anger and all that.”
Occupational therapy is a branch of healthcare that helps people of all ages with physical, sensory and cognitive issues. As occupational therapy is not well known in Namibia and Africa, the Occupational Therapy Association used the opportunity of the #Be Free Youth Campus to raise awareness of the practice.
The #Be Free Youth Campus, the first of its kind in Namibia, provides sexual and reproductive health services, counselling, sports and learning facilities to teenagers and young adults in the underserved Katutura district.
