Brain Awareness Week grants are funded by IBRO and Dana foundation to support projects on brain awareness in less represented countries, anywhere outside of Europe.
One of the most admirable projects that benefited from this grant was conducted by Olivier Uwishema, a medical student from Turkey, originally from Rwanda.
The project
In 2021 Olivier Uwishema, decided to conduct a project to increase awareness of mental health issues and mitigate the stigma of seeking help.
Growing up in Rwanda, Uwishema didn’t have easy access to good health clinics or well-researched medical information.“Ever since, I have wanted to pursue medical studies to deliver healthcare and build stronger health systems in my country and beyond,” he says.
Impact
Through the project, Olivier and the organizers succeeded to hold interactive mental health educational workshops in schools and universities in Rulindo, Northern Province, aimed at equipping students with the knowledge and tools about mental health, as well as help, promote help-seeking behaviours.
In addition to this, the project has also offered mental health training to school staff to enhance their understanding of youth mental health issues. Furthermore, due to his organization’s member cohort, they paid the health insurance for 1000 of the families in rural area of Nyamagabe, who were unable to do this because of the global pandemic.
Honorable mentions and increased popularity among his peers
With this project, Olivier’s story was featured in prestigious publication, like New York times, and made the headlines into his local newspaper. His work reached out to people in many different fields, from the arts to the healing to relieving financial burden.
You too can follow into the footsteps of Olivier Uwishema to create an impact within your community while promoting brain awareness, or mental health, like Olivier. So what’s your top priority? Send in your application and be the next person to create an impact on someone’s live, using the brain awareness grant!