Director of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services,
Ministry of Health in Jamaica.
I had for a long time thought of visiting the “far east”. Being a part of the inaugural proceedings and the pilot class for the International Diploma in Mental Health Law and Human Rights was an experience of a lifetime.
It was a great feeling being in the in the presence of a cadre of faculty who had such a breadth and experience in mental health and law, and were enthusiastic about sharing their knowledge.
Sharing accommodations and classroom with students from 18 countries was exhilarating and almost overwhelming at times.
The collective wealth of knowledge was mindboggling.
I met persons from countries I had never heard of before example Vanuatu or that I had only heard of on the news eg. Georgia, Pakistan, Afghanistan.
It was amazing to see the connections of the human spirit and personalities that totally bypassed cultural, social and even language barriers.
The course was quite intense in the amount of information that was excellently presented in a relatively short time. Being a psychiatrist, I am quite familiar with the information taught in the basics of psychiatry, but the lectures on the various aspects of mental health law and human rights took me to another dimension of learning.
The adjustments that some of us had to make to the new cultural norms and food was more than compensated for by the warmth and friendliness of the Indian people.
As the Director of mental health services in my country, this course will equip me to review and adjust policies and plans in keeping with international human rights standards. I will also be instrumental in teaching others about mental health law and human rights, not only in Jamaica, but the wider Caribbean region.
I am looking forward to completing this course and returning to India.
In the words of my young Indian friend, a student of I2 IT ‘you must visit Kerala next time, that’s where I am from’
I am looking forward to Kerala.
I want to thank the WHO for sponsoring me and the ILS law college team for making it possible.I highly recommend this course.
