Abassador: Raymond Mungujakissa , United States
The MINDS Foundation was founded by Raghu, 6 years ago, following his volunteer experienced in Bihar, India where he saw for the first time the gaps in accessibility to healthcare in rural India. Simultaneously he witnessed a family member struggle to find accessible high quality mental health care. He contacted various medical professionals and began creating an innovative healthcare model to eliminate stigma and provide effective mental health care to at risk rural populations in India.
The MINDS Foundation started an education programme which today has reached over 30,000 rural citizens in the state of Gujarat, taught 3,200 students, and 120 school teachers about mental health, to help overcome the stigma of mental illness. To increase access locally to medical advice, 200 women in local villages have been trained as community mental health workers. The MINDS Foundation also created a novel screening process for mental health and 3,300 people have been screened and with the assistance of local clinics and physicians; medical treatment has been provided for 650 patients from 87 villages.