ISLAH FOUNDATION- By Amal Avengers
Phase 1
The “How” :
After years of ignorance, stigmatization and promotion of superstitions around the word “mental health”, the world is finally recognizing its importance. We all have heard this word being extensively talked about in the recent years, and most of us have first handedly experienced issues like anxiety, lack of self confidence, depression and emotional turmoil. Hence, when my team was told to unanimously come up with a startup idea that revolves around one cause that we all cared about, we all started converging towards the idea of establishing an online platform where we can connect mental health professionals and mental health patients.
The “WHY” :
The past one year has been tough on everyone. We all had to shift our comfort zone dynamics drastically. To quote one of my team member, “I felt that I am also the victim of the adverse effect of this pandemic and I am facing a lot in the context of mental health. This was the time when I felt that I am in dire need of mental assistance. I believe that some of the most comforting words in the universe are ‘me too”. It’s the moment when you find out that your struggle is someone else’s struggle too, that you’re not alone in your suffering.”
The Key Deliverables :
The key deliverables of Islah Foundation include:
1- Online webinars that allow people to connect to mental health professionals, clinical psychologists and doctors.
2- The availability of asking questions anonymously. We have noticed that most people are neither comfortable talking about their problems openly, nor are they comfortable to reveal their identities while doing so. Hence, one of my team members came up with the idea of using “Padlet boards” to take anonymous questions. We offer 3 modes of asking questions during a webinar namely; a Padlet board, chat, voice c
What has been achieved so far? :
So far the team of Islah Foundation has achieved the following milestones:
1- Webinar 1- Topic: Talking about mental health is the need of the hour but why?
Almost 47 people registered for the webinar, and an average of 12–14 people attended the webinar.
2- Webinar 2- Topic: Anger Management and Self Control
Almost 94 people registered for the webinar, and an average of 42–44 people attended the webinar.
3- Webinar 3- Topic: Building Self Esteem and Confidence
Almost 93 people registered for the webinar, and an average of 32–34 people attended the webinar.
4- Almost 320 followers on Facebook and an established Social media Presence on Instagram, LinledIn and YouTube.
5- A volunteer team of about 8 people.
6- Tons of appreciation, encouragement and positive feedback from our audience and people who support our cause.
Challenges met, Strategies used and Changes made:
1- None of the core team members belong to the psychology background and hence we do not know a lot of Clinical psychologists or mental health professionals. For this purpose, we have been using our extended friend and acquaintance circles to reach out to various professionals. We have also been trying to broaden our circles by taking volunteers. Each new addition to our project, brings an opportunity to reach out to a new guest speaker.
2- We are just starting and hence one of our biggest hurdle for now is marketing. A lot of people register for the webinar but less than half of them show up for the webinar. For this purpose we have been running volunteer drives. We have successfully been able to convince about 8 people to volunteer for us, to help us spread our word and strategize the expansion of our audience.
3- Initially we had given the option to enter the webinar with an anonymous name. But unfortunately in our second webinar, some people took advantage of this option. These people tried to create disruption during the webinar by repeatedly turning on their mics and playing disturbing sounds. We immediately removed these people, and for our next webinar we removed the option of anonymous name. Instead, we made emails compulsory for the people who registered, so that only those people are able to join who have been added in the approved guest list and our webinar invitation link is not shared with irrelevant people. This strategy seemed to work, and for our third webinar this issue wasn’t repeated.
4- Initially we were finding it a bit hard to delegate roles because there were so many small tasks. But eventually, as our project caught a steady pace we were able to properly chalk out everyone’s responsibilities.
Roles And Responsibilities:
1-Sijal: Managing social media accounts (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn), Making posters, Sending WhatsApp messages/ Reminders
2-Nimra: Conducting Padlet board activity during the webinars , Finding additional resources to publish
3-Daneyal: Screen recording the webinar, Scheduling the webinar, Uploading the webinar on drive, Sending out invitation emails to registered people
4-Haris: Making lists of emails and WhatsApp numbers of the registered people, Updating link-tree every week, Writing an engaging caption for webinar poster
5-Muqaddas: Writing a blog post on the weekly topic, Managing volunteer drive and reporting about it
6-Tayyab: Making Registration forms, Making Feedback forms, Uploading the webinar on YouTube
Others: Tasks like finding guest speakers and hosting the event are delegated on weekly basis.
Future Goals and Targets:
For the upcoming weeks we are planning to conduct webinars on more specific topics like GAD, Social Anxiety and dealing with trauma. We are planning to extend our volunteer circles and introduce additional streams to reach out to maximum people and make impact. This would include sharing more resources on our social media platforms, and publishing blogs on various topics. For this purpose we aim at taking help from psychology students who are willing to volunteer. Moreover, we are also planning to carry out something different than the weekly webinars. Confused? Well let it be a secret. Make sure to keep following Islah Foundation, to get the updates about the upcoming exciting endeavor!
