By Vanessa Cort
ONE of the most creative and innovative mental health initiatives to be rolled out in recent years is about to expand its presence in Guyana, with messages tailored to the needs of our population.
SMAHOO – Self-motivation and Healing Ourselves Online – is the brainchild of Canada-based Guyanese Shirvington Hannays, who explains that it has taken over 20 years to bring this project to fruition, with the tremendous mental and physical effort and long hours it has entailed.
A combination of his initials – Shirvington Mark Anthony Hannays – and the OO he ‘borrowed’ from Yahoo, Hannays has been able to establish various components of SMAHOO over several social media platforms, including Facebook and Spotify, and now SMAHOO reaches some 17 countries worldwide.
Team members are drawn from around the world, from Nigeria to Canada and they each bring to the table unique skills and expertise, enabling SMAHOO to continue to ‘spread its wings’, reaching a wider audience.
It’s message that mental wellness can be obtained online is gaining increased attention and a growing following.
I find this pertinent to Guyana, where our population remains reluctant to engage in person-to-person counselling. An online forum provides both privacy and confidentiality, through advice and a listening ear, which is personalised yet distant and provided by experienced professionals.
Recently, Dr Barbara Peterkin has been invited to join SMAHOO and is excited about the prospect.
With a wealth of knowledge in the field of Naturopathic medicine, Dr Peterkin, who lives in Guyana, will bring her informed perspective to the group. She feels that such an initiative is both timely and necessary for Guyanese, who still hold outmoded views about mental wellness.
However, the recent Mental Health Awareness March held in Georgetown has shown that the stigma is gradually eroding and mental health is earning an equal measure of importance along with physical health.
This ties in with the World Health Organization’s Action Plan 2013-2030, whose primary goals are to ensure that the entire global population has access to vital health care services and to promote mental health and well-being.
And according to Dr Peterkin, “The whole aspect of natural health is like the ‘baby boom’. It is not going away. It is growing.” She states that people are finding traditional medicine inadequate and ineffective for the task of solving myriad health matters, given the often-debilitating side effects of many pharmaceuticals
I myself have found the constant stream of advertisements for new drugs disconcerting, especially with the alarming side effects, not least of which is the bland statement that the drug ‘may cause death’.
Dr Peterkin – A member of the American Association of Drugless Practitioners – contends, ” They cure you of one thing, and they’re killing you at the same time.” With a background in hairdressing and cosmetology, she runs ‘B’s Beauty Circle and Naturopathic Centre’ at her home in Sixth Street, Alberttown, Georgetown.
Her establishment offers an array of purely organic products for both internal and external use, along with massage and spa treatments.
Dr Peterkin has toured the world giving lectures and holding workshops on naturopathic health and is passionate about introducing the world to the tremendous benefits of nature’s products free from all additives, preservatives and other synthetic components.
And SMAHOO founder, Shirvington Hannays, is excited at the contribution Dr Peterkin can make to his vision of holistic care delivered online, as the team prepares to expand its online presence here in addition to the 17 other countries being reached on Spotify.
