Fred Otieno Gori Walks from Migori to Nairobi to Raise Awareness on Mental Health Services

Fred Otieno Gori’s mental health awareness walk from Migori to Nairobi is set to highlight the chronic lack of access to mental health services in Kenya outside Nairobi and other major cities.

Gori, 47, reported that he had experienced sleep paralysis since childhood, but he believed his episodes to be demon attacks for many years.

He claims the disorder later caused problems at work and increased his long-standing anxiety and depression.

His experience has now led him to fight for stronger mental health services at the county and community level.

Gori is delivering petitions to county governments along his route, requesting that community health promoters be trained to recognize mental distress and provide initial support and referrals.

He also wants each Level 4 hospital to have a minimum of one mental health professional and for hospitals to create ‘wellness corners’ to enable people to access support without fear of stigma.

Gori is also pushing for a more widespread use of technology such as the toll-free tele-counselling program to reach those in less accessible areas with fewer specialists.

“If there is a toll-free number somewhere that I can call, and the person on the other side is competent and knows what they can do to help me, that will make access to mental health services cheaper,” he said.

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Mental Health Service Accessibility in Kenya

He claims that the vast majority of mental health professionals are based in Nairobi, resulting in a general lack of specialist services in the majority of counties.

“That is where the work is. They can’t be in Migori, they can’t be in Nyeri, they can’t be in Lamu or other counties because most likely you won’t find any work there,” Gori said.

Gori has also expressed the need for offices to establish policies that allow workers to take time off to seek counselling and mental health support when they feel overwhelmed.

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Mental Health Advocacy and Policy Change

He believes the walk will spur Kenyans into talking more about mental health and spur policymakers to increase affordable services.

“Maybe it’s a small thing. Maybe it won’t even move the needle. But maybe somebody will hear what I did, and maybe the seed will be planted for future action,” he said.

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Walking the Mind campaign thanks supporters for backing the Kenya Mental Health Awareness Walk. Credit: Fred Gori FB