Gabriel Calzado Ruiz is DUE and has been at the “Dalal-Xel” Mental Health Centre in Thiès (Senegal) since the end of January as an international volunteer for Juan Ciudad ONGD, and from there he writes this short chronicle of one of the activities in which he has recently participated.
In it, she recounts a visit promoted in Dala Xel by youth groups, with the aim of raising awareness about the center and the reality of mental health, raising awareness about the situation experienced by people with mental illness, and helping to break the social stigma that still remains on these people, and promoting their integration.
This mental health center is run by Brother Francois Faye and welcomes international volunteers.
Gabriel Calzado's Chronicle:
On April 7, 2017, taking advantage of the school holidays, a large number of children and adolescents visited Dalal Xel. They were young scouts who were spending a few days at camp and one of the tasks they had been entrusted with was to receive short talks on hygiene and sanitation, by the way a very necessary awareness topic in this nation. They all showed great interest and enthusiasm in the assigned tasks and quickly absorbed all the details. As soon as they finished their short theoretical classes, they got down to work, leaving the center spotless and not only were they cleaning tasks, they managed to plant almost a hundred trees (well, we arrived), I was also lucky enough to leave a small seed in the Center.
Dalal Xel is one of the cleanest places I know in Senegal. I only hope this awareness-raising initiative spreads to the entire population and that the numerous landfill landscapes that darken this great African country disappear.
With small great details like these you start, I was very happy and, of course, I also learned
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