25 May 2016

Metropolitan Botswana Cooperate Social Responsibility (CSR) Team donated fifty blankets, football and netball kits, two soccer and netballs to S’brana Psychiatric Hospital in Lobatse on Friday.

Speaking during the ceremony, psychiatric consultant Dr Sreekanth Davu said gestures of that kind should be continuous and encouraged. He said the community should be supportive enough and help reduce the stigma attached to sychiatric patients.

Dr Davu said mostly people misinterpret the word ‘mental’ adding that this resulted in a lot of stigma from the community believing that patients with mental disorder are violent. He said this also led to people keeping a distance from the hospital and its patients.

Dr Davu said there was a difference between mental health and mental illness, adding that Sbrana being a mental or psychiatric hospital did not necessarily mean every patient there was mentally ill.

Metropolitan Botswana sales manager Mr Gomolemo Mothusi said it was the third time they did that kind of community responsibility, adding that they started with a clean-up campaign in Gaborone City followed by a Christmas party for vulnerable children in December 2015. 

He said their aim was to carry on and do something for the community every three months by identifying beneficiaries to assist.

Mr Mothusi said everyone was affected as some even had psychiatric patients in their families and communities. He said as Metropolitan they would help in spreading the message to stop stigma.

For her part, psychiatric nurse at the hospital Ms Mary Segokgo said mental health awareness was vital in the community as everyone was affected. 

He said patients needed the communities’ support as they would be integrated back into the community once discharged from hospital and would need to be welcome and accepted.

In closing, Boswelatlou ward councillor  Themba Setimela said giving to hospitals was vital as there was always a shortage, adding that the donation came at the right time of winter when patients needed to keep warm.ENDS