Côte d’Ivoire-Bluemind Foundation starts the Heal by Hair program in Abidjan

Bluemind Foundation organize the first edition of the Heal by Hair training. A short training program that aims tò train 30 hair professionals to become mental health ambassadors.

By Issiaka N’Guessan, in Abidjan

Marie-Alix de Putter wants mentally healthy African women to contribute to productivity and thus bring their know-how to the development of the African continent. In Africa, more than 60 million women suffer from mental illness, according to the president and founder of Bluemind Foundation. To prevent other women from undergoing the trauma that was hers, Marie-Alix de Putter conducted a study on 148 hairdressers. 67% of the women said they confide in their hairdressers and 90% of them said they exchange with their clients.

« Women were asked if a hairdresser with basic mental health training would be a criterion of choice for them, and 6 out of 10 women felt that this would be a criterion of choice, » reports Marie-Alix de Putter. Her NGO, Bluemind Foundation, has committed 32.8 million FCFA to train 30 hairdressers in Abidjan out of 250 applications received. The trainees are from Yopougon, Cocody and Abobo, densely populated neighborhoods in the Ivorian economic capital, Abidjan. These 30 women are the first cohort of the Heal by hair program. « We will be able to reach 10,800 women because a hairdresser sees 7 women a day, » says Marie-Alix de Putter.

Equipping the pillars of the economy

The first step of a very ambitious bet. Marie-Alix de Putter plans to reach « 5 million women in 20 African cities with a target of 1,000 hairdressers to train » by 2035. She estimates that « women are a pillar of the African economy with 26% of women entrepreneurs, the highest percentage in the world. »
Rural areas will be affected « because everyone has the right to happiness » she maintains. 50 thousand euros or 32 million 800 thousand FCFA constitute the budget per training. « The benefits are for women, communities because a woman today who suffers is a woman who can not work, who can not contribute effectively to the economy, it is families that suffer because there is a malaise in the family, « said the president of Bluemind Foundation. She recalls that « Africa has the highest suicide rate in the world », hence the interest sought from the private sector and public authorities.
The hairdressers, who are a link in the country’s economy in the beauty and hairdressing sector, will benefit from « literacy training to support the growth of their business, » says the president of Bluemind Foundation.

Objective of the training

According to Marie-Alix de Putter, through the « Heal by hair » project, the goal is to « allow the ambassador hairdressers to be attentive and to recognize the first manifestations of mental disorders or the aggravation of pre-existing disorders.
An evaluation on the knowledge distilled will sanction the training which will be given by therapists including Dr Olga Porquet, psychiatrist and member of the scientific council of Bluemind Foundation, specialized in Psycho-traumatology.

In Africa, according to her, « there are 110 million people affected by mental illness, 60% of whom are women under the age of 25. It is the same reality in Côte d’Ivoire » she says, even if she believes that these figures are « underestimated ». She explains that « being a woman, in an epidemiological way, is a factor of vulnerability, particularly in Africa » because women do a lot of chores. « Their mental health will be impacted, » says Dr. Porquet.

On the choice of the training target, Dr. Porquet maintains that « hairdressers are socially very important ». Another reason is that women feel comfortable in a hair salon. « We feel comfortable because we can talk freely between women, because we are listened to, so hairdressers could already be a very important relay in terms of mental health » says Dr. Olga Porquet. However, she recognizes that « all this needs to be structured, that it is not a matter of confidences made in the hairdressing salon, that these hairdressers can really be a link in the mental health care chain, that they can help us.

Technical criterion, the understaffing of psychiatrists who are, according to Dr. Porquet in Côte d’Ivoire, « about fifty for 26 million inhabitants ». These hairdressers who will be trained will constitute « a trained support to direct towards the specialists in mental health ».
The participants will have the definition of mental health, « to deconstruct the prejudices around mental health,