Mental Health Peers' Self-Empowerment

After recognizing the misconceptions about mental health followed by the difficulties that Peers in Mental Health face in the Rwandan community, (including but not limited to), rape, early pregnancies, physical abuse, community/family stigma and rejection, poverty among others.

Former patients of psychiatry decided to take action and created a National Association, OPROMAMER has grown since 2012 from individuals’ vision to become a nationwide organisation with twenty independent Peer groups and over 3972 members and still growing. OPROMAMER is working to transform understandings about mental health and to reduce the significant burden of stigma faced by mental health peers in Rwanda as well as empowering them through community initiatives such as saving groups that enable members to access to small loans and pay basic services such as school fees and healthcare insurance. In addition, we do advocacy for peers’ rights through engaging different persons and institutions to mainstream mental health care and reduce discriminatory policies and acts.