FINAL-YEAR medical student, 26-year-old Shazam Somwar, has his heart set upon eradicating the stigma attached to men’s mental health and using his office as a qualified doctor in future, to provide quality care to those who may not be able to afford it.

Raised at Kilcoy/Chesney, Corentyne, Berbice, by his parents Nazir and Ramai, and being the eldest and only boy among three siblings, his passion for becoming a medical doctor comes from an ingrained desire to help others – a lesson he said his family taught him well.

Having applied to the Greenheart Medical University (GMU) in 2015 while in pursuit of a career in medicine, the plan is to specialise in internal medicine, with a subspecialty in HIV/AIDS. “I have chosen to live by the inspiring Mahatma Gandhi quote: ‘Be the change you want to see in the world,” Somwar told Pepperpot Magazine in an interview recently.

Starting out at the Albion Front Nursery School, he pressed on to the Cropper Primary School, and then New Amsterdam Multilateral. After graduating in 2013, he applied for work-study at the Anamayah Memorial Hospital (AMH) in Belvedere, Corentyne and after two months of work-study, he was employed as a Pharmacist Aide at the AMH Pharmacy.

“I remained in that position for one year and I believe because of my outstanding performance, my employer decided to enrol me into a Phlebotomy Technician programme. On completion, I was moved to the AMH Laboratory, where I functioned as the Phlebotomist Technician for one year before deciding to head to medical school.”

As he continues his studies, Somwar has been using his time to host sessions in schools, businesses, and non-governmental organisations to educate them about the fundamentals of human rights. At one point, he focused on general mental health awareness, but eventually decided to make it more specific to men and mental health.

And that’s how he started Project MENding Mindsets, whereby he wanted to create a safe space for men to talk about their feelings, seek help, and improve their mental health. It’s a project that focuses on the empowerment of men. “In our society, if a man says he’s stressed out, or if he’s crying, people tend to laugh; ‘you should ‘man up’ and not be showing feelings.’ But that’s not the case because in reality, they bottle up those feelings and that can lead to suicide, abuse, etc.”

Even as he did online sessions during COVID-19, in April 2022, he started a radio programme on MAAD 97.5 FM with the same name Project MENding Mindsets, with the goal of being able to reach more people. “Even though I have added quite a few new things to my portfolio, I remain committed to suicide-prevention advocacy which has propelled me to give attention to the crucial area of mental health, which I believe all human beings should be au fait with,” Somwar shared.

He said his love for humanity, personal experiences, and seeing things being neglected inspires the work that he tries to do. “In another 10 years, I see myself as a successful medical doctor and someone in society who has made an impact, not politically, but in a humanitarian way, and to see the stigma attached to men’s mental health being removed completely.”

It was in 2018 that Somwar developed an interest in human rights advocacy. He was tasked with representing Guyana at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City for Youth for Human Rights International Summit and was named President of the Youth for Human Rights Berbice Chapter. “This gave me the opportunity to represent Guyana once more at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City and also the chance to speak in front of many ambassadors and other officials about my human rights work in Guyana,” he recalled.

Furthermore, he was also certified as a Human Rights Consultant by the United States Institute of Diplomacy & Human Rights.

“I believe with my years of service to Guyana in the field of volunteerism and humanitarian services, I was nominated for the 2019 Ignite Caribbean 30 Under 30 Caribbean American Emerging Leaders Award, which I received in Washington D.C. U.S.A on June 7, 2019. Today I am a proud 30 Under 30 Honoree.”