Mental Health Placement
Hey there!
My name is Albany Ferguson-Smith. I am a 21year old student currently working full time for Triangle Housing in Ballymoney as a support worker for adults with mental and social needs. I am a volunteer with Bee-Heard Charity and studying Health and Social Care at NRC Coleraine. I recently have applied to a University to study Mental Health Nursing as I am looking to make a difference. My ambition of becoming a Mental Health Nurse stems from personal experiences with mental health. I spent 6 months within an Inpatient Unit with clinical Depression. I have a unique insight into what it is to have a mental illness. The resilience and patience of those who worked closely with me really influenced my own views on mental health.
As a further development of a personal interest in that field I have now been given the invaluable opportunity to achieve just that by improving my knowledge of mental health and giving me hands on experience working in a therapeutic environment supporting children who have been traumatised by the consequences of the tsunami in 2004. SLVolunteers have invited me to be part of their team that will be travelling to Sri Lanka on the 30th May 2016 for 5 weeks.
Link to their website: http://slvolunteers.com
SLV provides students & graduates with hands-on work experience in teaching, working with children, with people with special needs and in the mental-health sector. SLV are a graduate led, volunteer organisation working in Sri Lanka. SLV will put me on a placement focused on making a positive impact to the local community to benefit the service users. It is not a holiday experience! I will have the opportunity to work within a Psychiatric Unit and Mental Health Care Home. This placement is run in partnership with Samutthana, the King’s College London resource centre for trauma, displacement and mental health in Sri Lanka.
Link to their website: http://www.samutthana.org.lk
I am asking for a donation towards my placement to support the work of Samutthana, You will be helping provide children and adults with vital resources that can improve their mental health needs after suffering a tsunami and nearly 25years of civil war. You will also be supporting the children’s own personal development thus giving them an opportunity to improve their own well-being. The role I will be carrying out will provide them with workshops to empower children with special needs, using creative therapies to help them deal with the many issues that they face and providing a therapeutic environment where the individual does not feel as isolated. I too will gain valuable skills that I can use within my future placements with people facing similar issues.
I will be actively interacting with my community through local newspaper interviews and upon my return, presenting my experience through newspapers articles and school organisations, I fully intend to interact with the community about the work SLV provide. This placement will be both intense and challenging.
I appreciate the time you have taken to read this.
Thanking you in advance for any support you can offer.
Sincerely,
Albany
SLVolunteer
