A co-founder of a charity that helps people with mental health problems in Zanzibar has returned from her latest trip to the African country.

Ruth Jennison, a nurse who lives in Borth, helped establish ZAMHS with retired mental health manager Mike Greenwood.

The charity helps provide equipment and training around mental health. One current programme involved setting up a mental health education scheme in schools.

Ruth, who has taken part in several sponsored swims to raise money for ZAMHS, said that the charity also worked with traditional healers to help them spot when people needed to be referred to mental health services.

She said: “As in the UK there remains a huge amount of stigma about mental health problems in Zanzibar. Many people in Zanzibar do not seem to understand that depression is also a mental health problem, and that suicide takes the lives of around a million people around the world every year.

“Although Zanzibar is a tropical paradise, and popular tourist destination, many people on the island live on less than £1 a day, and for people with serious mental illnesses this means that they cannot afford the bus fare to attend the main hospital on the island, and cannot afford the medication.”

Since being formed in 2014, ZAMHS has provided equipment and training for people, and also bought a motorbike to help staff to be able to travel to other areas to provide assistance.

As part of her visit Ruth managed to see the impact some of the ZAMHS support has made.

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