The initiator for Peter’s Daughter Project, Doreen Noni receives a certificate from the Deputy Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (Policy, Parliamentary Affairs, Labour, Employment, Youth and the Disabled), Mr Antony Mavunde, after the she emerged the winner in year’s Total Startupper of the Year Awards. PHOTO |SALIM SHAO
What you need to know:
It was an idea that was borne out of a pure difficult situation facing Doreen Noni but one (the idea) that made her to start seeing life differently. She then transformed her situation into something that can help others going through depressing moments.
Dar es Salaam. It was an idea that was born out of a pure difficult situation facing Doreen Peter Noni and her family but one that made her start seeing life from a different, more positive angle.
Like any other person, Doreen, a daughter of former managing director of what used to be known as Tanzania Investment Bank, now TIB Development Bank, Peter Noni, felt crashed after her father was arrested and arraigned.
Mr Noni, along with three others, was charged with six counts of fraudulent trafficking, money laundering and occasioning a loss of about Sh7 billion to the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) in 2017, among others.
But aside with details of the case, which is in court, the fact is that, facing the depression of what could be happening to her father, Doreen found herself helpless.
Her health condition started deteriorating. She was forced to seek experts’ help. It was then that she realised that she was suffering from depression.
“I learnt a great deal about the dangers of depression and came up with an idea to help others who could be in a similar situation I was in,” she said.
Being an entrepreneur, who runs Lake FM Radio in Mwanza, Doreen decided to do something that would deliver the message of how to tackle depression.
“I came up with the idea of preparing a series of programs – to be aired on TV, Radio and online platforms – helping people to open up about their depression,” she said.
The idea, dubbed “Peter’s Daughter Project” emerged as the winner at this year’s Total Startupper of the Year Awards.
She bagged Sh30 million from Total Tanzania at an event graced by the Deputy Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (Policy, Parliamentary Affairs, Labour, Employment, Youth and the Disabled), Mr Anthony Mavunde.
The first and second runner up took home Sh20 million and Sh15 million respectively.
Doreen told The Citizen that with the money, she will prepare programs featuring people overcoming depression.
“I’m in talks with several TV and radio stations in a bid to find one that will air the series in Season One of Peter’s Daughter,” she said.
Doreen believes in the power of opening up as the best therapy to depression. Her belief seems to concur with what mental health experts are suggesting.
In April 2017, when Tanzania joined other countries in marking World Health Day, the power of talking as a way of dealing with depression took the centre stage, inspired by a theme coined by WHO: “Depression: Let’s Talk.”
And in April 2017, a government poster with an encouraging phrase: “Sonona: Usikae Kimya. Zungumza,” circulated on social media as part of a campaign to raise awareness on depression.
Part of the campaign, was Dr Norman Billy, the chief executive officer of IHeartMedicine who blames the rising trend of depression in Tanzania on poverty, joblessness, relationship difficulties, chronic diseases and substance abuse.
His suggestion on how to deal with depression is not far from the simple rule—opening up. He said: “The first step in helping depressed people is through engaging them to talk about their problems.’’
Depression is a risk factor for suicide, which claims hundreds of thousands of lives each year, Dr Shekhar Saxena, the director of the department of mental health and substance abuse at WHO , said in April 2017.
Researchers are convinced that getting people out of poverty and financial challenges can significantly get rid of many mental health challenges—including depression.
Poverty situation has had a huge impact on the development of Common Mental Disorders (CMDs) in Tanzania, affecting the people in rural and urban areas.
A survey titled: Common Mental Disorders and Risk Factors in Urban Tanzania, also shows that the CMDs are highly associated with exposure to traumatic life events in urban Dar es Salaam, particularly events involving relationship difficulties and financial instability.
“Efforts to address poverty and disadvantage in low income countries such as Tanzania will need to take mental health into account and address the difficult circumstances and environments within which people live and work,’’ suggests the survey published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
For the case of depression, it creates feelings of severe despondency and dejection and according to data released by WHO; more than 300 million people now livie with depression globally.
Health scientists now agree that if people talk to their confidants, then depression can be dealt with.
A facility-based analysis by Dr Sylivia Kaaya from the Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences(Muhas), shows that the data collected from 20 regions in Tanzania from 2006-2007, showed that depression accounted for 7.5 per cent of all reported (89,045) patients with mental disorders.
On a global scale, the number of people living with depression by 2015 had reached 322 million, up 18.4 per cent since 2005, the WHO says in its latest database.
