A REPORT FOR THE MUSIC FOR HEALTH INCLUSION PROJECT FOR

JANUARY, 2024.

Figure 1: Brass band par1cipants of zone 2 during the mental health session on well-being.

INTRODUCTION
The report reflects the detailed ac0vi0es undertaken in the implementa0on of the Music For Health
Inclusion project for the month of January 2024. During the month of January, ac0vi0es such as; 6
mental health session with the brass band par0cipants, 1 healthcare workshop and joint community
dialogues. The above ac0vi0es are part of the project components of stakeholder engagements, mass
mobiliza0on for community awareness and capacity building for the people we work with.

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KEY ACTIVITIES
Mental health and well-being sessions:
To ensure the individual and
community well-being and to
reclaim the “right to a safe,
dignified, personal and
gra0fying life in the community
despite one’s challenges, we
conducted “WELL-BEING”
sessions with the community
brass band par0cipants.

Figure 2: YCO brass band par1cipants during the well-being session at the Brass The sessions were conducted in
for Africa-Yumbe field office.
zone 1, zone 2, zone 3, YCO and
zone 4 (Annex). The par0cipants
learnt what well-being is and
where able to iden0fy and
describe the different elements
of human well-being. The
sessions began by the health
officer asking band members to
think about what well-being
Figure 3: Par1cipant holding his wri1ng on what he will do to ensure that he means and what each one
promotes his well-being and that of those around him.
needs to feel well. Band
members wrote things like, socializing with friends and praying. We went ahead to inform the band
members that well-being is not necessarily the absence of disease.

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 Band members were able to look at
the social, spiritual, emo0onal,
cultural, biological, material,
mental and cogni0ve aspects that
contribute to one’s safety,
par0cipa0on and development,
thus good well-being. Par0cipants
were able to write down ac0ons to
be undertaken to ensure their well-
being and of those around them. In
zones like zone 4 Annex, the band
Figure 4: Zone 4 (Annex) brass band members during a mental health session members were given an
at their training center.
opportunity to sing something
from what they have learnt.

Health workshop:
The workshop was held at the
Brass for Africa-Yumbe field
Offices on the 26th.January.2024.
the workshop comprised of
facilita0on sessions, par0cipant
led sessions, group ac0vity
session and discussing on
learning progress and way
froward. The introduc0on
session started with a throw the
ball exercise to help with sharing

Figure 5: Health Officer facilita1ng a session on depression during the health

expecta0ons for the day and to
workshop. get everyone thinking about the
ground rules and a recap of their role as health ambassadors.

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Figure 6: Signs of depression as brainstormed by the health
ambassadors during the workshop.
with depression condi0ons, but to create awareness on the condi0on, break the silence and s0gma
around it and also bridge the gap on the referral pathways.
Figure 7: Health ambassadors during an ac1vity on how menstrua1on
affects the SRHR affects girls and young women.
years.
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The second session was a thema0c introduc0on
with a focus on depression. The session began
with a brainstorming ac0vity about Ben’s story.
The purpose of the ac0vity was to lay a ground
for the discussions on depression and to re-
ac0ve depression knowledge. We further dived
into the signs, common causes and self-care
strategies for people with depression. The
session offered an opportunity for the
ambassadors to unlearn and relearn on the signs
of depression as most of them were mixing the
causes as signs. The key message was “as health
ambassadors, our role is not to diagnose people
The third session focused on MHHM
and SRHR, which included discussions
and learnings on what SRHR is, why
SRHR macers with regards to
menstrual health. The facilitator
emphasized that the two scenarios of
Eunice and Chris0ne powerfully
highlight the link between MHHM
and SRHR. She added that these
interlinkages are biological and social
and persist across the lifespan, and
are par0cularly prominent during
adolescence and the reproduc0ve
Funded by
Joint partner community dialogues:
Together with OPM, UNHCR and other implemen0ng partners, we held community dialogues in two
zones (zone 2-village 6 and zone 5-Ariwa 2). The community dialogues aimed to empower persons of
concern and the host community to par0cipate and spearhead their journey for peaceful co-existence
in their communi0es while informing the partners some of the challenges they are facing and holding
partners accountable for the work they are doing. Some of the issues that arose from the community
dialogues included; Access to land and land wrangles remains a big impediment to the persons of
concern and their empowerment, an unresponsive health care system is another glaring challenge that
was iden0fied, food categoriza0on as some of the most vulnerable persons like the elderly are not lef
out during food priori0za0on, collapsed toilets that have nega0vely affected girls to menstruate with
dignity, damaged water systems among others.

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS
o The workshop was acended by 39 par0cipants (23 females and 16 male) who gained
knowledge on what depression is, signs, common causes of depression and self-care strategies
for people with depression.
o Par0cipants were able to demonstrate a range of scenarios on why SRHR macers in addressing
menstrual health concerns.
o Overall, the par0cipants were happy with the format and methods of the workshop. Much of
brainstorming, singing, group ac0vi0es, reading and telling scenarios. The different facilita0on
methods used created a learning, unlearning and relearning environment and also promoted
ac0ve par0cipa0on of the par0cipants.
o 43 knickers were distributed to the 14 female health ambassadors with each gehng 3 knickers.
o We were also able to distribute 9 MHHM demonstra0on kits to all the 9 band outreaches.
These will go a long way to support the health ambassadors as they carry out community
awareness sessions.
o More than 150 par0cipants acended the community dialogues in the two zones and they were
able to voice their concerns to OPM, UNHCR and other partners and also acquire knowledge
and clarity on the current humanitarian landscape and its impact on the existence of
humanitarian organiza0ons. On the other hand, OPM, UNHCR and its partners used this as an
opportunity to iden0fy the

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grievances of the communi0es and emphasized the importance of community led ini0a0ves to solve
their grievances.
o 111 (36 females and 75 male) band par0cipants were able to acend the mental health sessions
in the loca0ons of YCO, zone 2, zone 3, zone 4 (Annex), zone 1 community, and ICS.

CHALLENGES
o Language barrier was a challenge during the sessions with the band par0cipants, however, we
were able to have one of the par0cipants to translate.
o 6 of the healthcare ambassadors missed out the workshop as many of them were in South
Sudan and their phone numbers were not going through for them to be able to receive calls
and messages about the workshop.

LESSONS LEARNT AND RECOMMENDATIONS

o The group ac0vi0es were a highlight and were much appreciated by the par0cipants.
o We learnt that mental health condi0ons of suicide have increased in zone 3 and there is need
to work together with other partners to ensure that more awareness is done.
o Con0nuous sessions are needed on the aspects of mental health, menstrual health and
handwashing for us to be able to achieve bigger impact.

CONCLUSION:
We are s0ll commiced to ensure that girls menstruate with dignity through speaking out against all
the social norms and taboos that hinder them from menstrua0ng with respect, address the s0gma
surrounding mental health condi0ons to allow people access services with no judgement and with
dignity.

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APPENDIX

Report by:
Molly Nabwami (Project Officer-Health)
Daniel Kasule (Project Manager-LUCM)

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