Ms. Alice Bibe has been a Women's Officer in the Hela Province for more than 36 years. She has always been passionate to serve the mothers and children in her province, considering how they were the ones always at the forefront, facing the full brunt of issues and challenges in the province.
“I care for my people because they are good people. Especially the women and girls and elderly since they are vulnerable and at higher risk of being assaulted, neglected by family and friends,” Alice shared.
Beginning of this year, Alice was one of 22 community mobilisers from within the province who participated in the Psychological First Aid training provided by the United Nations Population Fund and UN Women, in their support to peace-building efforts in the Highlands Region.
“Through this Psychological First Aid training, I was able to identify that not all problems affecting displaced people are visible to the naked to the eye, but it can be in their minds, in their emotions and their behavior. We can understand and observe these effects better if we just look and listen. ”
Since receiving the PFA training, Alice has then applied her skills to help almost 35 people who were recently displaced from their communities due to tribal violence.
“The fighting in Fuga village, North Koroba has displaced hundreds of people and 35 of them came to Koroba Learning and Empowerment Center (LEP). Ie successfully conducted PFA sessions with them. These people have lost everything in the fighting, but it was through the PFA training that I was able to help them cope with the loss, address their mental well-being and ensure that they were better able to deal with their emotions. ”
“From these 35 displaced people, 5 are elderly and extremely vulnerable, and so I have allowed them to move into my personal home so I can continue to provide PFA care until they are stable and have come to terms with the destruction of their lives, “ Alice added.
Alice shared how PFA has helped the displaced people under her care and seen the importance of PFA , particularly in supporting people affected by violence and the need to address the trauma.
With World Mental Health Day celebrated earlier in this month, Alice shared her thoughts on the theme ‘‘Mental Health is a universal human right”.
“Stress is part of our everyday life. Trauma is very much present in most of our communities in Hela Province. These are very real issues in our lives and I think it is our right to lead a life that is free from trauma and violence, and to have skills to help us recover from the impact of such incidents. ”
“Psychological Aid should be prioritized because issues relating to this exist in our rural communities. It is our right to have access to mental health and psycho-social support,” Alice concluded.
