One Global Voice

healing

Afia Oppong-Kwakye

“Wounds of Brokeness”, when healing is nothing but a mirage

Sometimes mental issues manifest in waves. Long, apparently peaceful times can be followed by new, unexpected waves of pain. And you find yourself again into waters you thought were already gone and that, instead, have changed their course to come for you. Traumas emerge from the depths of your sorrow and your never fully healed wounds start to bleed again. Ghanaian Afia Amoaa Oppong-Kwakye describes in her poem this condition of incredulity and helplessness in front of the destructive force of mental suffering; something strong enough to numb your will and make healing seem impossible.

“The Day I Will Recover”, the road to healing from mental illness

A poem conjugated in the future tense, the time of hope and life to come. A life our Rwandan author strongly wants to be free from anxiety and depression. To him, looking ahead to the future means to envision himself as finally healed and actively promoting mental health awareness to stop the stigma. It means being able to pick up a pen and write, returning to the village where you grew up to say to all men that, yes, they are allowed to cry and share their burdens. And, eventually, it means to write on all the walls the word “resilience” so that can anyone can see it and know it.

Applying musictherapy to human health, an experience from Africa

Music has always been part of Nsamu Moonga’s life, a young African musictherapist working in Boksburg, South Africa. A passionate student of music and psychotherapy, he decided to offer his skills – and his vocation – to the community. He works with children and young people at risk, in schools and in public institutions. Confident of music communicative and healing capacities – and of the diversity within the continent to be treasured -, he works connecting practice and research, enhancing African traditions and music.