The COVID pandemic has created depression, much human suffering. But you can help others

Inevitably, you have heard about or read of the increased cases of people suffering from depression, stress, low esteem or just feeling that life has lost meaning. This suffering is attributed to the struggles people have gone through since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

I have followed the news both in America and in Kenya, my home country. I have closely observed the sufferings of students and their families in our two schools in Kenya. The impact of the loss of the life, of businesses and jobs, and the uncertainties created by COVID-19 are likely to be experienced for generations to come.

My empathy for those affected is from a personal experience with depression in 2010 after I visited Kenya for the first time in 24 years and saw the emptiness in the lives of children as a result of AIDS/HIV, poverty and corruption.

Even though I had experienced grief after the deaths of my three young brothers and two sisters, the desperate condition of the children I saw created something I had never experienced. I questioned the meaning of life and the purpose of my existence.

A few weeks after I came home, I met Hal Rumsey, a dear friend since my first year in Idaho, for lunch. To this day, I don’t how the holy spirit revealed to him that I was depressed. I had, to that point, never known what depression was. But he told me that I seemed depressed, a truth that I learned to accept later.

Then Hal said, “Vincent, the best way to have hope again is to do something to help those kids.” That was the beginning of Caring Hearts and Hands of Hope, a nonprofit organization (EIN-27-3127770) that raises funds for high school ($750/year) and university ($1,000) tuition for poor orphans and other needy students. Only eternity will reveal the impact of those words, as hundreds of vulnerable children destined to lives of misery now hope for a better tomorrow — and many are living their dream life.

Depression is real. COVID-19 lockdowns disrupted routines and affected the students in the girls school in alarming ways. Before the pandemic, K-12 students in Kenya had holidays in April, August, November-December. But because of the lost school year in 2020, the government imposed a crush program, with students staying in school throughout the year — with three brief breaks, about 10 days or less. There was no time for essential activities like sports, music or drama festivals.

Since the reopening of school, students have exhibited a lack of motivation and focus on school activities in levels teachers have not seen. A number of them were so depressed that they had to engage professional counseling services, an uncommon practice in Kenyan K-12 schools. Several contemplated taking their own lives. We had to have all teachers and five students from each class trained on how to intervene.

The pandemic also brought struggling families to their knees, financially. In the past, a sick student would go home and be back in school within a few days. But since the pandemic measures started, ill students were staying home for more than the usual number of days (or even weeks), because their families didn’t have the money to take them to the doctor or buy medicine. Thus, we decided to keep sick students in school and pay for their treatment and counseling.

What I learned from Hal is that if you notice any change of enthusiasm or behavior with your family member, friend or co-worker, don’t ignore it. Listen to them without judging them. Don’t tell them to “get over it.” Help them to regain a positive perspective on life. For me the quickest way out of the hopelessness I felt was working to make things better for others.

To help a needy student with counseling services, please consider donating $60/year to Caring Hearts and Hands of Hope, P.O Box 7152, Boise, ID 83707.

In these times, we all need help — and to provide help if we can.