Lesson 2 Health Matters!
Talk It Out, Help Is Here
On today’s show, we are going to ____ about special park benches in Zimbabwe called Friendship Benches.
We have two ____ guests.
First, please ____ the founder of the Friendship Bench program, Dr. Dixon Chibanda.
Can you ____ us what inspired you to come up with the program?
Dr. Chibanda:
____. The idea came from an experience I had as a psychiatrist.
One of my ____ had become severely depressed.
However, she couldn’t get help because she was unable to afford the bus ____ to the hospital.
This shocked me, as I had never considered ____ a problem before.
In fact, it is difficult for ____ people in Zimbabwe to pay for transportation and receive medical treatment.
Furthermore, there has been a lack of psychiatrists in the country for many ____.
When the Friendship Bench program started in 2006, there were only eleven ____ serving Zimbabwe’s population of over twelve million people.
I needed to find a way to bring psychiatry into the ____.
Host: Oh, so that was the beginning of it.
Could you explain to us how the Friendship ____ program works?
Certainly. The program was created as a way to provide accessible mental health ____.
It offers ____ therapy sessions to people dealing with issues such as depression or anxiety.
The sessions are free and are provided by respected elderly women from the ____.
These ____, called “grandmothers,” volunteer to sit with patients at the benches, listen to their stories, and provide them with emotional support.
What a wonderful idea! How did these amazing grandmothers become a ____ of your program?
____ were chosen for our program because they are deeply connected to the community.
Moreover, they have all the qualities of a counselor, such as ____ listening skills, empathy, and the ability to engage in meaningful discussions.
They are also very reliable, ____ is important for our efforts to support mental health.
At the ____, we started with only fourteen volunteer grandmothers.
But today, there are thousands of grandmothers ____ have been trained to provide Friendship Bench therapy in Zimbabwe.
Host: That’s interesting!
____ happens after patients complete their sessions with the grandmothers?
When the sessions with the grandmothers are over, patients are encouraged to join a community support group made up of ____ patients of the program.
The members of these groups can ____ relate to and support one another.
This is because most of them come from the same community and have ____ similar struggles.
That sounds like a great way to continue the support and build a ____ of community.
And the program has been ____ successful, right?
That’s ____. In 2022, we provided face-to-face counseling to about 90,000 patients in Zimbabwe.
Now, Friendship Benches are available in ____ than twenty different regions around the country.
Our ____ is for everyone to have a Friendship Bench within walking distance, and we are working hard to make it happen.
We’ve also started ____ the program, and we now offer online counseling through an app.
This has helped us reach even ____ people.
Host: That’s really amazing!
____ you for your time, Dr. Chibanda.
____ let’s hear from one of the grandmothers who volunteers for the program.
Can you introduce yourself and tell us how you ____ involved with the Friendship Bench program?
Hello, my name is ____ Moyo, but people call me Grandma Moyo.
I’m 76 ____ old, and I have been volunteering for the Friendship Bench program for about eight years.
I joined the program because many people in my community struggle with ____ health problems, and I wanted to do something about it.
I knew that I could help heal their wounded ____ by supporting them.
That’s very kind of you. Can you tell us about your ____ as a grandmother for the Friendship Bench program?
Grandma Moyo: It’s been wonderful.
Seeking help for ____ health problems is nothing to be ashamed of.
I’ve ____ how it can make a difference in people’s lives.
One patient of mine, a nineteen-year-old girl, was going through a ____ time after her mom passed away.
I ____ her and helped her begin her recovery journey.
Now her life is back on track, and she ____ even started her own business!
Cases like this ____ me so proud to be part of the program.
It is such a ____ experience to help people make positive changes in their lives.
Thanks for ____ your experiences with us today, Grandma Moyo.
____ truly inspiring to see the influence that the Friendship Bench program has had.
And it’s all thanks to the hard work of people like you and Dr. ____.