Glory trained 300 young people — they have reached more than 5,000

When Dr Glory Florentine arrived in Kenya in 2022, she had other plans for her future. She wanted to pursue further studies in cardiology. But through her work with YWCA, she met young people and saw needs that would lead her in a completely different direction.

At the time, YWCA did not have a dedicated mental health project. Through conversations, training and a small assessment, Glory gained a closer understanding of some of the challenges young people were facing.

“I saw that we needed more tools to help people, more training and greater awareness of mental health. When I returned to Tanzania, I saw that we needed more of this there too,” Glory says.

She took the initiative to train ten young people as para-counsellors, enabling them to support other young people under professional supervision. Together, they provided support to more than 100 young people. She also trained another ten young people to work on gender-based violence.

“I wanted to create something that could last. I wanted something to remain even after I left. That is why I trained young people who could continue the work,” Glory says.

What began as an initiative during her year on exchange would also change the direction of her own career.

“I can do more”

Working with mental health made Glory reconsider her plans to pursue cardiology. But she says it was not only the work itself that influenced her. The people she met and everything she was exposed to during the exchange were equally important.

“Before, I was very much in my own world. During the exchange, I built a network with many people and heard about the work they were doing. Some of them had big dreams, and I started thinking: I think I can do more. It was like a switch had been turned on,” she says.

“The exchange made me realise that this is what I want to do. I had originally planned to continue within cardiology, but I changed direction to mental health. The experience taught me to see things differently.”

When she returned to Tanzania, Glory initially tried to develop mental health work within the organisation that had sent her on exchange. She later moved on and established MiNova Mental Health Clinic and Foundation.

300 young people are taking the knowledge further

In 2023, Glory launched the MiNova Fellowship, a free training and mentoring programme for young people. The first cohort had 100 participants. The next had 200.

For Glory, the programme is not only about giving young people knowledge they can use to help others. Many of the young people she meets are carrying difficult experiences and trauma of their own. She therefore combines the training with mentoring and access to counselling.

“Many of them have experienced trauma themselves. They need support to process what they have been through so that they can also help others,” Glory says.

The next step is to take the knowledge out of the training sessions and back into their communities.

“After the training, I ask them to go back to their communities and do something there. They use what they have learnt through their own activities and workshops,” she says.

Online counselling in eight African countries

The approach has created ripple effects. The 300 young people trained through MiNova have reached more than 5,000 people with mental health knowledge and support.

Some have also started their own clubs and smaller initiatives. Glory tells the story of one participant working in a Maasai community. He continues the work locally, sends her reports about what he has been doing and reaches out when he encounters situations that are too difficult to handle on his own. Glory and MiNova can then provide professional guidance, materials or support with training and counselling.

“They are training others, and some are starting small initiatives of their own. I cannot finance what they do, but I can support them with materials, join them in training sessions and help when they encounter cases that are too difficult to handle,” Glory says.

The training has also crossed borders. Through online courses, Glory has reached young people in eight African countries.

The private sector helps finance the non-profit work

Providing free training, mentoring and mental health support requires resources. Glory has therefore built MiNova around two parts: a clinic that provides paid services and a foundation that carries out much of the non-profit work.

Through the clinic, Glory and her colleagues provide services to companies, including mental health assessments for employees, training and therapy. The income helps finance the work of the foundation.

“The clinic finances the foundation. I found that when you depend on support from other organisations, you may be told that what you want to do does not fit within their strategy, or that the funding can only be used for certain things. Now I have more room to be creative and do more of what I see is needed,” Glory says.

This makes it possible to continue providing free initiatives for young people, while MiNova generates its own income to help sustain the work over time.

Building a broader mental health service

Today, Glory and her colleagues work with both prevention and treatment. They provide psychotherapy and counselling to children and young people who have experienced trauma, neglect, loss, disrupted schooling or early pregnancy. In schools, they work both with students and with teachers who support children and young people who are struggling.

Within the next ten years, Glory hopes to establish a larger mental health and rehabilitation centre in Tanzania. Through her work, she says she meets many young people struggling with alcohol use and believes there is a need for better rehabilitation services.

“I want to build a mental health and rehabilitation centre. I meet many young people who struggle with alcohol, and there are not enough good services available. At the same time, we need to continue raising awareness so that people can understand their own mental health and know where to seek help,” Glory says.

Her ambitions are bigger now than when she travelled to Kenya in 2022.

“Every day, I meet people with big dreams. I want to give them the tools to achieve them.”