Family Member Maureen
I still vividly remember that day, some 30 years ago, when my parents called me into their bedroom, and asked me to stop arguing with my big brother Anthony. They explained that his erratic behaviour wasn’t his fault and asked me to be patient with him because he wasn’t well. They told me they were taking him to the hospital, and that everything would be okay.
Anthony was admitted to the psychiatric hospital the next day, and I was confused and devastated. He was 15 years old. You see, Anthony is the second of 5 siblings. We were closest in age and we used to play together a lot. We lived in an upper middle class neighborhood, and life was good. Anthony was so much fun to be around. He’d come up with all kinds of games. He was a born leader, and when we were little I’d always follow his lead because he never let me get into trouble… he always took the blame for all our escapades.
After he was diagnosed with schizophrenia everything changed. Initially, it was not too bad, but as he grew older, it became a struggle to get him to take his medication. After a while, he would stop taking them, he would get progressively worse and then he’d end up back in hospital. It was a really stressful time for all of us
Despite his illness, he managed to graduate from high school and completed agricultural college with a diploma in agriculture. He got a job as an agricultural extension officer in the Ministry of Agriculture in Ghana. After a while, he had to be let go because he could not function properly.
Over the years, Anthony has become only a shadow of that fun-loving, mischievous, smart little boy that he was. He still lives at home, and has never been married. He cannot live independently because for now, he cannot hold down a job. He has few friends, and his social life is virtually non-existent.
Background: There was, and still is, a lot of stigma attached to mental illness in Ghana. We couldn’t talk openly about our brother’s illness. The hospitals are overcrowded and the infrastructure is poor, and it was always so heart-rending and painful to visit him there. Whenever he was discharged, we would look around for a rehabilitation program that would help re-integrate him back into society. We found nothing suitable.
We live with our spouses in four different countries; the United States, Canada, Britain and Ghana, and we all work full-time. Through a sheer determination to help our brother, we invested our time and resources in our quest for ways to help our brother become more independent.
After a while, we decided to set up something that would meet our brother’s needs, as well as the needs of people like him and families like ours that are living with mental illness. In our search, we found the Clubhouse International Website and were thrilled because it sounded exactly like what Anthony needed! We contacted Clubhouse International, applied for, and were invited to participate in the New Clubhouse Development training seminar. We did and were thrilled! We are positive that this will work for us!
Vision: We see RosePep House as a safe haven that provides an environment of belonging, dignity, hope and purpose where people dealing with mental illness will obtain opportunities and support to re-integrate into society.
RosePep Today: Today, thanks to Clubhouse International, there is hope for our brother and many more like him in Ghana. RosePep House has a committed Working Group consisting of individuals who share in our Clubhouse vision. We have a dynamic mentor who continues to be one of our biggest fans and provides us with invaluable support. We already have our Clubhouse building in a prime location in Accra. We have even identified an Executive Director who believes in our vision and is ready and willing to work!
Next Steps: After this, we set up our Advisory Board, secured funds, completed improvements to and furnished our Clubhouse and hired staff. We opened our doors in September 2009.