Sunsets and Sunrises
Fields of yellow-green were separated by a glistening river, and they reached out to meet the skies at the horizon. These skies appeared to be painted in real time, as if the artist added novel beauty with each steady brush – transforming the vast canvas across the spectrum of blues, and introducing strokes of pink and yellow-orange, as the Sun made its way to the horizon. We were mesmerized by the beauty surrounding us.
This is how we began our week. Every day we are surrounded by warmth and generosity from both friends and strangers, beautiful landscapes, and exciting waves of Soca music. We have come to know many youth – intelligent, and eager to learn, while critical of the information shared with them. We have also had the pleasure of getting to know many teachers - passionate for the education and wellbeing of their students, and eager to discuss different health topics and their relevance for the students. The thought of having to leave Guyana in under two weeks is one that reminds us to continue to put full effort and consideration into our lessons and students, and to embrace every opportunity outside of class to spend time with our friends and breathe in the culture of Berbice.
Any educator, anywhere in the world, that discusses mental health with students will be faced with some serious questions and issues from the students, that require prompt, and careful responses. This is no different for us. We are aware that teenage years are a vulnerable time for mental health, and we are happy that we have developed a sense of trust with many of our students. Throughout the past 2 weeks, in our Question Boxes we have received several questions and concerns surrounding depression, suicide, and self-harm – specifically requesting more information on how to cope with depression and suicidal thoughts, how to get better, and how to help a friend. We believe that having a closeness in age to the students, and being a fresh face in the community form a fairly special platform for comfortability in asking questions surrounding such personal and difficult topics. Although we thoroughly cover these topics in our lessons, the questions give us clues to which areas we need to review at the beginning of the next class, and which points we need to re-emphasize in order to help students and their friends who are struggling with these issues. In particular, we would like to help students to feel as confident as possible in their ability to recognize if they are having difficulties with their mental health, and their ability to reach out to others when these challenges arise. Our other major goal is to help students to recognize signs and symptoms in their friends, and to feel comfortable and confident in helping a friend.
A key objective of these lessons is breaking down the stigma and false ideas surrounding different aspects of mental illness and suicide. In order to do so, we share personal experiences that we have had directly and indirectly with mental illness, as well as statistics that help our points resonate with the students. For example, “5 in 5 people have mental health. 1 in 5 people will experience mental illness at some point in their lives.” This statistic serves as an important introduction to mental health. It helps people understand that we all have mental health, and so we all need to learn about it, and understand it - we need to learn how we can improve it, and how to cope with obstacles. We need to know what to do if we are struggling with our mental health, and how to help our friends who are struggling with it. It also helps people understand that mental illness is much more common than generally believed.
Just as each sunset is followed by a sunrise, difficult times in our lives can improve with time, the proper care, and support from our friends and family.
This is how we began our week. Every day we are surrounded by warmth and generosity from both friends and strangers, beautiful landscapes, and exciting waves of Soca music. We have come to know many youth – intelligent, and eager to learn, while critical of the information shared with them. We have also had the pleasure of getting to know many teachers - passionate for the education and wellbeing of their students, and eager to discuss different health topics and their relevance for the students. The thought of having to leave Guyana in under two weeks is one that reminds us to continue to put full effort and consideration into our lessons and students, and to embrace every opportunity outside of class to spend time with our friends and breathe in the culture of Berbice.
Any educator, anywhere in the world, that discusses mental health with students will be faced with some serious questions and issues from the students, that require prompt, and careful responses. This is no different for us. We are aware that teenage years are a vulnerable time for mental health, and we are happy that we have developed a sense of trust with many of our students. Throughout the past 2 weeks, in our Question Boxes we have received several questions and concerns surrounding depression, suicide, and self-harm – specifically requesting more information on how to cope with depression and suicidal thoughts, how to get better, and how to help a friend. We believe that having a closeness in age to the students, and being a fresh face in the community form a fairly special platform for comfortability in asking questions surrounding such personal and difficult topics. Although we thoroughly cover these topics in our lessons, the questions give us clues to which areas we need to review at the beginning of the next class, and which points we need to re-emphasize in order to help students and their friends who are struggling with these issues. In particular, we would like to help students to feel as confident as possible in their ability to recognize if they are having difficulties with their mental health, and their ability to reach out to others when these challenges arise. Our other major goal is to help students to recognize signs and symptoms in their friends, and to feel comfortable and confident in helping a friend.
A key objective of these lessons is breaking down the stigma and false ideas surrounding different aspects of mental illness and suicide. In order to do so, we share personal experiences that we have had directly and indirectly with mental illness, as well as statistics that help our points resonate with the students. For example, “5 in 5 people have mental health. 1 in 5 people will experience mental illness at some point in their lives.” This statistic serves as an important introduction to mental health. It helps people understand that we all have mental health, and so we all need to learn about it, and understand it - we need to learn how we can improve it, and how to cope with obstacles. We need to know what to do if we are struggling with our mental health, and how to help our friends who are struggling with it. It also helps people understand that mental illness is much more common than generally believed.
Just as each sunset is followed by a sunrise, difficult times in our lives can improve with time, the proper care, and support from our friends and family.
Signing off with peace and love from Berbice,
Megan B, Megan E, Kate and Robbie.
Megan B, Megan E, Kate and Robbie.