Friendship Bench

I was told about an innovative, yet incredibly simple program that is sweeping the world. The problem they have taken on: It is estimated that over 280,000,000 people globally suffer from depression and loneliness—sometimes with fatal results. Only a third of them have access to mental health support. Friendship bench is solving that!
Friendship Bench began in Zimbabwe in 2006. Dr. Dixon Chibanda was one of only ten trained psychiatrists serving thirteen million people in Zimbabwe. A patient he thought was stable was not. Her family called saying she had taken her life. She hung herself in their yard from the limb of a Mango tree. The doctor was devastated.
He noticed people sitting on park benches who would talk about the issues of the day. But they also often bore their souls and were open and honest about their problems. Realizing the power, Friendship Bench was born. He started with Grandmas of the town. They were trusted; their lives rooted in the community. They had the knowhow that comes with a long life, including life’s battle scars, and the knowledge gained acquiring them.
Dr. Chibanda started with only thirteen Grandmas. He trained them on listening and communication, and set up his benches, but he didn’t name the benches correctly at first. Few people were comfortable sitting on “The Mental Health Bench.” One of his Grandmas said he should rename each of them Friendship Bench—and so they are! A simple name change, and the Grandmas found themselves sometimes with lines of people waiting to talk.

The program has been so successful, it is taking off across the globe. One day they hope to have Grandmas, and now their similarly aged male counterparts, to leave no one in need alone.
It’s another example of the value and importance of enhanced communication skills!