E - Safe Space

Uganda is host to over 1.5 million refugees as per the year 202, making it the largest refugee-hosting country in Africa and third world-wide. Of these, approximately 60% are children and young people under the age of 35, with many of them facing the silent battles and other mental health issues.

In 2022, a refugee youth-led organization (that I lead) implemented a project called "Fighting Silent Battles Among Young People" in different communities hosting refugees in Kampala, Uganda. This project uncovered the harsh reality that young refugees are fighting silent battles within themselves that they do not disclose to anyone. Some of these battles include wounds from conflicts and wars that forced them to flee their home countries, as well as the challenges they are facing in their asylum country, which are similar to those faced by the host community (Ugandans). These silent battles include sexual abuse, domestic violence, gender-based violence, addiction, poverty, loneliness, fear of failure in the future, and many others.

Despite these issues, the young refugees rarely open up to anyone about their problems due to the lack of trust, information about mental health, support systems, and stigma, among other factors. As a result, these challenges often lead to the development of mental illnesses, which are already widespread among refugees, particularly those who have experienced war-related traumas. Furthermore, the effects of these silent battles include low productivity, hopelessness, isolation, and lack of self-esteem.

In Uganda, several organizations provide free mental health services to refugees, but they are still not enough to meet the needs of the population. However, young refugees rarely seek out these services, leaving the majority of those who do access them to be elders. This highlights the urgent need for a solution that can provide mental health support to young refugees, particularly through technology and innovation, which can help to overcome the challenges of trust, information, and access that these youths currently face.

The proposed solution is to address the mental health challenges faced by refugee youth in Kampala, Uganda, by providing them with a safe and accessible online space where they can seek support, access information about mental health, and receive tele-counseling. The solution involves the integration of a chatbot on WhatsApp and a mobile application, which will allow young refugees to access these services easily and conveniently from their smartphones.

The online space created through the chatbot and mobile application will serve as a platform for young refugees to share their experiences, concerns, and struggles in a confidential and non-judgmental setting. Through this platform, they can connect with trained mental health professionals who will provide tele-counseling services to help them manage their mental health issues.

The chatbot and mobile application will also provide resources and information about mental health, including coping mechanisms, stress management strategies, and self-care techniques. The platform will be designed to be user-friendly and accessible, with features that cater to the unique needs of refugee youth.

By providing an online space for refugee youth to seek support, access information, and receive tele-counseling services, this solution aims to improve their mental health outcomes, reduce the stigma associated with mental illness, and increase their overall well-being.

The solution is aimed at serving refugee youth (18-35) and vulnerable youth from the host communities in Kampala, Uganda, who are currently underserved in terms of access to mental health support. These young people have fled their home countries due to conflicts and wars and are facing various challenges in their new environment, including poverty, domestic violence, sexual abuse, addiction, and mental health issues.

Currently, these young refugees lack access to mental health services due to a lack of information, support systems, and stigma. Many of them do not trust the available services or are unable to seek them out due to various reasons, such as fear, isolation, and limited mobility.

The proposed solution aims to address these challenges by providing an online space that gives young refugees a safe and anonymous platform to vent, access mental health information, and receive tele-counseling. By providing mental health support through technology, the solution aims to increase access and overcome the challenges of trust and stigma faced by this population.

The solution will impact the lives of refugee youth by providing them with a much-needed avenue to seek help and support for their mental health challenges. By reducing the prevalence of mental illness and its related effects, such as low productivity, hopelessness, and isolation, the solution can improve the quality of life and well-being of young refugees. Additionally, the solution can help to reduce the burden on existing mental health services in Uganda by providing an alternative way for young refugees to access support.

Note that in line with Uganda's current policy, which requires that services targeting refugees should also benefit the host community by at least 30%, we will also consider the needs of the host community. This approach is also sensible, as many of the issues facing refugee youth, such as poverty, mental health challenges, and social isolation, are also prevalent among vulnerable youth in the host community.

Our team is composed of three refugee youths from three different countries: DR Congo, Burundi, and Rwanda. Our team leader has been leading a refugee youth-led organization for five years, and he is a champion and advocate for young people's mental health. He is also a certified peer counselor in mental health. All three of us have a background in computer science, both from courses we have studied and our profession.

As refugee youths ourselves, we understand the magnitude of the problems faced by young refugees in Uganda. Our team is well-positioned to deliver this solution because we are representative of the communities we are serving. We have experienced firsthand the struggles faced by young refugees and have seen the impact of mental health issues on our peers.

To ensure that our solution is guided by the needs of the community, we have engaged with young refugees through the refugee youth-led organization that our team leader has been leading. We have also tested the idea with members of the Rendezvous Youth Group, and the feedback was positive. Our team has conducted extensive research and consultation with the community to understand their needs, and we have incorporated their input, ideas, and agendas into the design and implementation of our solution.

We believe that our team's expertise in mental health, technology, and understanding of the needs of young refugees, coupled with our community engagement approach, positions us to deliver an effective solution that will have a meaningful impact on the lives of the target population.

The solution is currently serving 20 members of Rendezvous Youth Group in its starting stage.

We are applying to Solve because we believe that their platform can provide us with the necessary resources, connections, and exposure that we need to scale up our solution and make it sustainable. As a small organization, we face several financial and technical barriers that hinder our ability to effectively deliver our solution to the target population. Specifically, we lack the financial resources to acquire the necessary hardware and software tools to develop and deploy our technology-based solution, and we also lack the technical expertise required to optimize our solution for maximum impact.

Through MIT Solve, we hope to connect with partners who can provide us with the necessary funding, technical assistance, and mentorship to overcome these barriers and take our solution to the next level. We also hope to leverage Solve's network to gain access to new markets, partnerships, and collaborations that can help us expand our reach and impact. Ultimately, we are committed to creating a sustainable and scalable solution that can address the mental health challenges and others faced by young refugees and vulnerable youth in Uganda, and we believe that MIT Solve can help us achieve this goal.

Our solution, "E-Safe Space," is innovative in several ways. Firstly, it tackles the issue of mental health stigma by providing a platform that offers total confidentiality to users seeking support. This is a unique approach, as mental health conversations are often stigmatized in Uganda and many people are hesitant to seek help for fear of being labeled as mentally ill.

Additionally, E-Safe Space is youth-friendly and easily accessible through social media, a platform that young people in Uganda are very familiar with and comfortable using. This feature will enable young people to access mental health services without fear of being judged or facing any form of stigma.

Furthermore, E-Safe Space is a new intervention in the mental health sector in Uganda. It will fill the existing gap in mental health services for young refugees, who currently face numerous challenges accessing traditional mental health services. E-Safe Space will leverage technology and innovation to overcome the challenges of trust, information, and access that young refugees currently face.

E-Safe Space has the potential to catalyze broader positive impacts in the mental health space by increasing awareness and access to mental health services for young people, reducing stigma around mental health, and empowering young people to take control of their mental health. It could also change the market by influencing other organizations to adopt similar technology-driven solutions to reach more young people who need mental health support.

Our impact goals for the next year are to:

• Launch and implement the E-Safe Space platform, providing accessible and confidential mental health support services to at least 200 young refugees in Uganda.
• Establish partnerships with local mental health organizations, schools, and refugee communities to increase the reach of our platform and ensure sustainability.
• Train at least 15 peer counselors who will provide support to users on the E-Safe Space platform.

Our impact goals for the next five years are to:

• Provide mental health support services to at least 5,000 young refugees in Uganda through the E-Safe Space platform.
• Build a sustainable model for the E-Safe Space platform that ensures continuity beyond our intervention.
• Partner with key stakeholders to integrate the E-Safe Space platform into national and international mental health policies.

To achieve these impact goals, we will leverage partnerships with local organizations, schools, and refugee communities to increase our reach and impact. We will also work to secure sustainable funding to support the growth and scaling of our platform. In addition, we will focus on building the capacity of peer counselors who will provide support on the E-Safe Space platform, ensuring that our services are of the highest quality and meet the specific needs of the young refugees we serve. Finally, we will engage in advocacy efforts to promote mental health policies that prioritize the needs of young refugees in Uganda.

We plan to measure progress toward our impact goals through a combination of qualitative and quantitative data. Some of the specific indicators we plan to use to measure our progress include:

• The number of users accessing the platform: We will track the number of users accessing the E-Safe Space platform on a regular basis to ensure that we are reaching our target population.
• User satisfaction: We will conduct regular user satisfaction surveys to assess the effectiveness of our platform in meeting the needs of our target population. This will include feedback on the usefulness, accessibility, and relevance of our platform.
• Reduction in stigma: We will track changes in attitudes toward mental health and mental illness among our target population by conducting pre- and post-intervention surveys. We will also track changes in the number of people seeking mental health support and services.
• Partnerships and collaborations: We will track the number of partnerships and collaborations we establish to expand our reach and impact.
• Staff and volunteer engagement: We will track the level of engagement and satisfaction among our staff and volunteers to ensure that we are able to maintain a high level of service delivery.

We believe that using these indicators will help us measure our progress toward our impact goals and enable us to make data-driven decisions to improve our services and expand our reach.

Activities:

• Develop and launch a social media platform for mental health support
• Recruit and train mental health professionals to provide support through the platform
• Conduct outreach and awareness campaigns to promote the platform

Outputs:

• A functional and user-friendly social media platform for mental health support
• A team of trained mental health professionals providing support through the platform
• Increased awareness and knowledge of the platform among young people

Short-term outcomes:

• Increased access to mental health support for young refugees
• Improved mental health outcomes for users of the platform
• The reduced stigma around mental health

Long-term outcomes:

• Improved mental health and well-being of young refugees
• Increased integration and social inclusion of young refugees in their host communities
• Broader positive impacts on mental health awareness and Services in Uganda

The theory of change for E-Safe Space is supported by research on the effectiveness of online mental health support and the need for more accessible and youth-friendly mental health services in Uganda. We will also collect data on platform usage, user satisfaction, and changes in mental health outcomes to continuously evaluate and improve our approach.

The core technology that powers our solution, E-Safe Space, is social media. Specifically, we are utilizing popular social media platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp to provide mental health support to young refugees in Uganda. By leveraging these platforms, we are able to reach a wider audience and provide a safe and confidential space for young refugees to seek help. Our solution is not just about providing information, but also offering a virtual community where young people can share their experiences and connect with others going through similar challenges. In addition, we are incorporating AI chatbots to provide personalized mental health support and connect users with mental health professionals when necessary. Through the use of social media and AI technology, we aim to provide accessible, youth-friendly, and confidential mental health support to young refugees in Uganda.

At our organization, we strongly believe in the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Our team is composed of three people from three different countries, backgrounds, and genders, and we aim to continue to diversify our team as we grow. We understand that diversity brings unique perspectives and experiences, which are critical to addressing complex global challenges.

Our goal is to leave no one behind in the work that we do. We aim to benefit every young person regardless of their race, nationality, status, gender, religion, or anything else. Our platform being online will give confidentiality to the members of the LGBTQIA+ community who are unsafe in Uganda due to the recently passed bill of Anti-gay. We strive to eliminate unique and systemic barriers that have prevented the full participation of marginalized groups, and we are committed to creating environments in which all members of our community are welcomed, respected, supported, and valued.

As we continue to grow, we plan to take actions to increase diversity and inclusion in our organization, such as actively seeking out candidates from underrepresented backgrounds when hiring, creating an inclusive workplace culture, and building partnerships with organizations that serve diverse communities. We also plan to be able to use other languages so that everyone can benefit from our platform.

We understand that creating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive organization requires ongoing effort and commitment, and we are dedicated to this work.

As a nonprofit organization, our focus is on creating social impact rather than generating revenue. We provide our platform and services free of charge to our target population of young people facing mental health challenges. Our platform includes online resources, peer-to-peer support, and access to mental health professionals.

To support our operations, we rely on grants, donations, and partnerships with other organizations and individuals who share our vision of improving mental health outcomes for young people. We also explore opportunities for social enterprise ventures that align with our mission and values, such as creating paid opportunities for young people with mental health challenges to develop skills and earn income. However, our primary focus remains on providing free and accessible mental health support to our target population.

As a social enterprise, we understand the importance of financial sustainability to ensure the longevity and impact of our work. In the short term, we plan to seek out sustained donations and grants to fund our initial projects and operations. We will also explore the possibility of selling products or services related to our platform or offering service contracts to government agencies.

In the long term, we plan to explore additional revenue streams to ensure financial sustainability. One avenue we are considering is developing tech projects that will generate revenue for the organization. We believe that investing in technology can help us to scale our impact and create financial sustainability.

Overall, our goal is to balance our social mission with the financial sustainability of our organization. We will continually explore new revenue models and partnerships to ensure that we can continue to make a positive impact on the lives of young people in our community and beyond.

As a social enterprise that is still starting, our plan to achieve financial sustainability is multi-faceted. We plan to explore various revenue streams including sustained donations and grants, selling products or services, service contracts to governments, and raising investment capital. In addition, we also plan to explore some Tech-projects that will bring money to the organization.

Although we have not yet earned any revenue, we believe that being part of the MIT Solve program would be a huge step for us. It would open doors to funding opportunities, mentorship, and networking that could help us establish our revenue streams and achieve our financial sustainability goals. We are excited to learn from and collaborate with the Solve community to make our solution a reality.