Stronger Together: Taking a Stand for Mental Health

Amidst Haiti’s insecurity, HELP teams up with mental health experts to address the needs of our community

Although we are all aware of the psychological toll the pandemic took on our personal lives and our communities, most of us can only imagine adding on the experience of Haiti’s current violence, instability, and worsening poverty. HELP provides many supports to alleviate these hardships, but HELP students and staff are not immune to the everyday strain of living amidst violence, kidnapping, and scarcity. And so, in the spirit of adaptation, HELP partnered with longtime friend of HELP, psychologist Geslet Bordes, to provide students with coping skills and advice. Mr. Bordes conducted several focus groups on different themes, such as underestimation of self, sexual aggression, personal problems, and family problems. About 100 students attended these sessions and fully half requested follow-up sessions. Students gave positive reviews, saying “psychotherapy helped me to express my feelings. I felt good that someone could help me think differently and help me manage depression. They also helped me to strengthen the bonds with my classmates” (Sentia Laura Jeune, agronomy ‘23). Sabrina Occean (political science ‘25) said, “The counselor service helped me a lot to deal with the kidnapping of my father” and Noskano Petit-Frere (education ‘22) praised the program as life-changing, saying, it “allowed me to overcome one of the most difficult periods of my life.” Marlie Francois (management ’23) summed up the experience saying, “The instability and insecurity that reigns in Haiti leads to feelings of discouragement and stress. Although HELP cannot change the status of the country, they provided therapy sessions and workshops on stress management. It may not seem radical, but it helped us keep our motivation, in spite of everything.” Addressing mental health is always important, but it has been especially so during these times of extended uncertainty, instability, and stress. (Read more about HELP’s values and approaches here.) A big thank you to Mr. Bordes for his time and expertise which have had such a positive impact on the HELP community this year.