EVERYONE EVERYWHERE NEEDS SOMEONE TO TALK TO.

It would be good if we talked; not just pitter-patter talk, but

“real” talk. We shouldn’t be so afraid, most people really need this contact; if you can show your vulnerability it frees others to also be vulnerable. Your story matters. 

The Friendship Bench ® programme is an evidence-based intervention developed in Zimbabwe to bridge the mental health treatment gap. Our mission is to enhance mental well-being and improve quality of life through the use of problem solving therapy delivered by trained lay health workers. We focus on people who are suffering from common mental disorders, such as anxiety and depression, known locally as kufungisisa; translated to 'thinking too much'.

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We are not Conventional. 

our therapy rooms are outdoors under trees and our therapists are elderly Zimbabwean women. These women are city lay health workers who have become known as Community grandmothers.

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OUR PURPOSE

is to enhance mental well-being and to improve quality of life

by providing sustainable community based interventions that are evidence based, accessible and scalable.

OUR VISION 

is to enhance

mental well-being

&

improve quality

of life for all

OUR MISSION

is to provide

sustainable

community based

interventions that are

evidence based,

accessible and scalable.

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Dixon Chibanda: Zimbabwe Training Grandmothers to Treat Depression at Davos World Economic Forum

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Dixon Chibanda – one of 12 psychiatrists in Zimbabwe with a population of more than 16 million and founder of the Friendship Bench programme – he trained elderly Zimbabwean women to deliver evidence-based talk therapy on benches under trees to bring care and hope to those in need.

25 January 2019

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