Meet Angela Kangwa, an award-winning psychosocial counsellor who has been working for the Eastern Province Health Office under CIDRZ’s Common Elements Treatment Approach (CETA) program since 2020.
Angela has been supporting people living with HIV by providing counselling services for those having mental challenges such as anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts. A depression and substance abuse survivor herself, Angela uses her experience to help others going through similar mental challenges to lead better lifestyles.
She credits the intensive CETA training programme for equipping her with life skills that have enabled her to earn a living as a psychosocial counsellor.
“During the CETA training, I could relate the lessons to my story. At the time, I was depressed and was abusing alcohol. I couldn’t go a day without drinking alcohol,” Angela recalls.
She narrates that after the CETA training, she was able to work on herself and go past the negative thoughts that led her into depression and abusing alcohol. She now relishes being a role model in her community and has come to learn to love herself through CETA.
“I feel motivated to work even harder for CETA because it has also helped me in my life,” she explains.
Due to her dedication to mental health through her various media advocacy programs, Angela recently received recognition as a Mental Advocate of the Year during the Eastern Province Womantarian Awards.
She says this award has motivated her to work even harder and continue imparting positive change in society. Angela is involved in advocacy programs focusing on drug abuse in collaboration with the Drug Enforcement Commission.
Angela is one of the 69 psychosocial counsellors currently working in public health facilities trained by the Ministry of Health in partnership with CIDRZ’s CETA project since its inception in 2020.