Animedh Charitable Trust (ACT) is working across four panchayats in the remote adivasi villages of Dadra Nagar Haveli (DNH) on community mental health services through Project Mehek, where in 13 Community Mental Health workers called Mansik Swasthya Sevika / Sevak do interventions with children, youth and women using narrative ideas and practices.

Adivasi society revolves around the collective identity of self as a part of the family and community, close to land and nature, rooted in a 5000 years’ indigenous legacy which has been stressed by industrialization and systemic oppression in the last few decades. Consequently, their strengths, skills, happiness, hopes and dreams are overshadowed by beliefs, superstitions, anxiety, poverty, alcoholism, domestic violence, malnutrition and psycho-social problems.

Since February 2019, a resource team of thirteen participants from within the adivasi community was trained for more than two years in Community Mental Health Training Programme (CMHTP), by Ummeed CMH team. In a novel approach, the trainers’ team travelled a few days each month to DNH to familiarize with the local culture and practices and conducted a tailored program that included classroom and in field sessions. 

The trained community mental health workers have been working in 8 villages and more than 70 hamlets, since August 2020, doing family visits and group sessions to raise awareness, risk assessments, form trusting relationships and build emotional safe spaces in order to create promotive and preventive mental health practices within the communities among children and their care-givers youth and women. They also enable linkages to specialized mental health civil services available within DNH district. Project Mehek is a mental health programme funded by Azim Premji Philanthropic Initiatives (APPI) for three years till 2024.