KIS Student Takes Action: Something promising in the unparalleled times of 2020
The following article was written by Thea Mahbubani.
G11 KIS student Thea Mahbubani.
In August 2019, I was shown a video of the Aboli Foundation and their inspiring projects at my school, KIS International School. Their goals of providing medical assistance and basic necessities significant for maintaining individual wellbeing were what piqued my curiosity as becoming a doctor is my end game. Unfortunately, the impression of this profession is physicians interacting with patients through the traditionalism of the stethoscope rather than the altruism that words impart. In other words, with more emphasis on physical health rather than mental health. I say this with disappointment, not because I am undermining the value of a person’s physical health, but because of how mental health has been undermined and stigmatized from personal experience.
With that being said, I pursued a training course on mental health and offered my counseling services. This was at an affordable rate as the cost of English-speaking psychological assistance is prohibitive thus depriving assistance to those needed. I created a poster and shared it with a small community as well as through word of mouth. I have completed 25 hours up till this month with six people and will be continuing for as long as I can. A few of them were not mentally disturbed however enlightened themselves on mental health through the hour knowing the money was invested in a noble cause.
This June, I also began spreading the word about the foundation through a poster I made and distributed through the medium of social media. I also asked friends to pass it around through word of mouth. Additionally, I placed the poster in a restaurant and around my apartment. Up till now, we have seventeen donors from Singapore, Philippines, India, Hong Kong, Canada, Switzerland and Thailand.
Aboli Foundation provided me with an opportunity to pursue my goals through my passion, that is enhancing both mental and physical wellbeing by counseling and donating to those in need.
