Visit to Giedra and start of expert meeting

Today, Thursday 13 October 2016, got up around 8.30, and after a small breakfast, Lina came to pick me up at 10 AM. We took a trolleybus to visit the day activity centre for persons with psychosocial disabilities, Giedra, which is run by an NGO. Giedra is located on the third floor of a rather old building, and its floor has been renovated by the staff and volunteers. Now it is a cosy and homely place, with sofas, plants and flowers, and a lot of creative artworks all over the place. There are 4 staff, all social workers, who take care of the organization of the activities and the centre itself. Every day between 8 and 30 people come to visit. Giedra serves free coffee and tea, and hands out free food packages, as well as second hand clothing. Also there are several activities, such as gardening, sewing and ceramics (for which they have an oven which unfortunately broke down recently). They also had a small library (2 racks of books). It was a nice place with a pleasant atmosphere. While we were there, several persons arrived, and they all seemed to feel at home, and free to do what they want. It was very positive to witness this. The atmosphere reminded me of my own positive experiences with a similar initiative of an “open living room with optional activities” in the Netherlands, which has helped me a lot in my reintegration process and I have met some of my best friends there. So I was happy to see this initiative in Vilnius. The users of Giedra are called visitors, and they can just come by whenever they want. When a new visitor shows up, they are not asked about diagnosis or whatsoever, but they are only asked to give their name and to have a conversation about the needs or wishes. Also contact details are asked, so Giedra can reach out in case of sudden absence, to check if all is going well, or if any help is needed. I was impressed by this dedication, and the strong focus on social support, and non-medicalized view of the organization. It felt genuine, and truly empowering for its visitors. Such initiatives are very precious.
I had a nice cup of tea with several visitors and a staff-person, and I was led around to see the various rooms, which comprised a big living room with a small kitchen, an activity room and administration. I didn’t have much time to stay and talk with the visitors, since I had to go to the University of Vilnius around 12, to join the International consultation on the Right of Everyone to Mental Health.
Lina brought me to the University, and said goodbye. I will see her tomorrow evening again.

I will write about the meeting itself later, since time flies. It is already getting late, and I do need to prepare myself for tomorrows presentation as well (on the role of stakeholders and cooperation for the promotion of mental health care services based on human rights and evidence). And I want to be fresh for tomorrows debates, so I should get a proper amount of sleep tonight.

However, I can say that my presentation today on gender perspective and mental health care went well, although I was a bit shaky when I spoke. I got positive responses. I mainly addressed the issue of double and intersectional violence faced by women and girls and other marginalized groups in mental health care. It seemed that I had not understood that I was supposed to be reflecting from a community-based perspective (and I wasn’t the only one who had misunderstood that in this session). So I realized that I should have addressed many other issues, like stigma, fear and xenophobia. I am planning to draft a 1-page text to address this afterwards.

Also, I actively participated in today’s discussions, and I have certainly influenced the debate, so that feels good. After all, I came here to make a difference, and to promote the right of persons with disabilities, and to emphasize that coercion has got nothing to do with real mental health care. And that is exactly what I did today. It was a very interesting debate today, with a multidisciplinary group and a variety of views. And because it is such a delicate issue, I have decided to take more time to write my report of this meeting.

So it has been a good day, which ended with a good dinner.
And now I will say: good night!