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In the bustling district of Yopougon, known for its commercial energy and active nightlife, an understated change is happening. Locally, beauticians are embracing functions as emotional wellness supporters, offering a listening ear in addition to styling.

A Pioneer in Community Support

This professional, 49 years old, has dedicated two decades not merely cutting and styling hair but furthermore providing psychological support to her customers. A school dropout, Tano earlier was employed as a financial clerk before discovering her passion in the beauty industry.

“Stay positive,” she advised a worried student fearing academic failure. “Even if you fail, why assume that everything is lost in life?”

Psychological Care in the Region: An Unspoken Subject

According to the WHO, more than millions of individuals in this region face mental health problems. However, counseling is scarce, with just a handful of professionals on hand for every many individuals.

Throughout African-descendant populations, styling studios have become safe spaces, particularly in regions with scarce access to therapy services.

Healing Through Hair: A Program Bringing Change

The Bluemind Foundation, working in Cameroon, Ivory Coast, and Togo, started the Healing Through Hair project. As stated by the organization's leader, the founder, over many professionals have been trained over the past couple of years to function as therapeutic first responders, helping more than a large number of female clients.

By 2030, the target is to educate more than 1,000 hairdressers across various regions.

‘The Faith Exists In Place’

The initiative originated from a personal heartbreak. Over a decade ago, she lost her husband while traveling her native her homeland. The case is still open.

“I endured that difficult time after losing my husband with my hairdresser,” de Putter shared. “The hairdresser became the individual I felt safe with the most because one is merely encircled by people and you don’t know the perpetrator's identity.”

Inspired by this experience, the foundation carried out a recent survey across several Francophone countries. The data revealed that most participants confessed to sharing with their stylists, and in excess of nearly all stylists reported that customers had requested guidance.

Training and Support

The project features a complimentary, intensive short-term training with mental health experts and advisors who educate trainees about supportive dialogue, gender-based violence, symptoms of mental strain, and basic mental health principles. After completion, tests are taken before being awarded a credential.

“The course went very well … I got my qualification and these tools,” shared another hairdresser, referencing a educational material in her studio in a local neighborhood.

Throughout half a year, participants obtain follow-up help through support networks and connections with a mental health service network. In cases where a customer shares complex problems, beauticians can refer them to professional psychologists, or for instances of family conflict, to the police.

Difficulties and Achievements

Initially, funding for the initiative relied on the founder's own money, but now, private donors and organizations like France’s Development Innovation Fund are contributing. Still, resources remain limited for the scale of the task facing the organization's limited staff of workers and about unpaid helpers.

In spite of these challenges, participants report accounts of success and recovery. In Togo, one trainee hired someone who had been in a treatment center, giving a fresh start.

“Often following treatment and you've received care, people say you have problems,” explained the founder. “But if you have a job and someone who accepts to train you, you break free from the stigma.”

A further stylist departed her situation due to she was a survivor of abuse, but currently helps people. Locally, hairdressers mention that some male clients have also sought for advice.

Satisfaction and Meaning

Within the hairdressers, exists a common sentiment of accomplishment over their emergence as a form of psychological aid in their neighborhoods.

“As individuals visit explain their problems to me, it’s a pride for me too as I realize that I am a listener for someone,” commented she. “I reflect that everyone requires support.”

“For many participants, it represents the initial acknowledgment as a influencer in their neighborhood and a protector,” added the founder. “The participants are saying to us: ‘In the past I merely styling, currently I support well-being.’”