The Archdiocese of Denver’s Catholic Charities carries out an abundance of mental health work with little fanfare. The dedicated staff produces outstanding results. Among the caregivers is an African priest and psychologist, Father Cyriacus Ajaelu. Recently, Ajaelu has, with the church’s blessings, taken the first steps toward extending his mission into Africa.
Father Cy founded the Mental Health Initiative for Africa (MHI) because, he says, “Every night I’m haunted by images of kids and adults traumatized by African tragedies.” He spent several years in Liberia and Sierra Leone, where he witnessed inhuman atrocities, many of them carried out by boy soldiers who had been forced to maim and kill after being filled with drugs and alcohol. The atrocities have left a pall over the land.
Father Cy ministered to many broken souls in the war-torn regions for half a dozen years, an experience that has left an indelible impression on him and one that propels him to build mental health bridges for the mentally traumatized of the world.
The conflicts populating Father Cy’s mind are impossible to imagine. Two books on best-seller lists are about traumatized African boys who have suffered similar atrocities to those that Father Cy has treated.
Both Ishmael Beah, who wrote “A Long Way Gone,” and Valentino Deng, author of “What’s the What” (written with Dave Eggers) held book signings in Denver recently. At those events, it was clear that many of us want to know more about these people’s lives and what we can do to help.
Beah was a boy soldier in Sierra Leone, where he was forced to carry out untold atrocities. He was left scarred and mentally ill. Even though he still suffers from nightmares, Beah was lucky to undergo psychotherapy in America. Others who fought by his side were less fortunate; they are the ones MHI hopes to help.
Deng, a black Sudanese youth, and thousands of others his age traveled thousands of miles to escape pursing Arab militias during the conflict in the Sudan. On the long trek, many were killed by marauders, eaten by wild animals or starved to death. The end result is a generation of broken, traumatized people.
Many crises in the developing world have been addressed through providing material goods. Rarely is mental health ever considered. In fact, Doctors Without Borders doesn’t routinely have a psychological specialist on board. It is this void that MHI hopes to fill by training local, African mental health caregivers and providing medication when necessary.
MHI’s initial plan was only to treat mental illness in Africa. However, Father Cy has seen a number of African patients in crisis right here in Colorado. Indeed, many immigrants among us suffer severe psychological trauma.
Beah and Deng hope to raise our awareness to the tragedies that consumed their own childhoods. Sadly, many children in Africa and other Third World countries are engulfed in endless conflicts that enslave the body and kill the soul. We can support Father Cy’s mental health initiative (at mhiinternational.org) and urge our government to be more active in Darfur, North Uganda, East Congo, and other places where rape and murder are vehicles of ongoing genocide.
Even though founded under the auspices of Catholic Charities, MHI is a universal, non-denominational vehicle for mental health therapy. That said, Catholic Charities’ vision must be acknowledged and appreciated.
Pius Kamau of Aurora is a thoracic and general surgeon. He was born and raised in Kenya and immigrated to the U.S. in 1971. His column appears on alternate Thursdays.
