In Masaka district 120 kilometres from Kampala, the capital of Uganda, BasicNeeds selected Kikenene Health Centre II to run regular mental health outreach clinics. Here mentally ill people come from the local area to receive treatment from Psychiatric officers who are brought in by BasicNeeds.

The first mental health outreach clinic was held on the 17th of February 2005 and this is where we first encountered Sentamu Sperito.

Sentamu is a young energetic man in his early twenties, but due to his mental illness he refused to talk, was unkempt and violent. He had been reduced to a dishevelled state. Five strong men had to hold him for the nurse to give him an injection. Sentamu was given another appointment to have his treatment reviewed the following month.

As soon as we arrived at Kikenene Health Centre for the next monthly clinic, community members ran to us to deliver the good news.

"We have proved that this medicine works! You should see Sentamu now; he is so different from the person you saw last month!"

Sentamu looked different. His hair had been trimmed short and his clothing was clean. He was calm and not as violent as before. The change was remarkable.

Sentamu's had suffered from his illness for years.

"I was a successful coffee grower but when my business started to fail, irrational thinking and confusion began. I started getting nightmares about graves and drowning in the lake. I got dreams about things I should buy to appease the spirits and I bought them. Then I had visions and voices of people demanding swords and spears. Voices were saying to me, 'Throw yourself into a grave'. A friend took me to a traditional healer, but my condition did not improve. I thought of going back home but then I had nothing to show for all the work I had tried to do."

"One day, I was compelled to ride a bicycle to Kampala 170 kilometers away. Something kept urging me to ride on. I lived on the streets of Kampala for three days before someone gave me help."

"I left Kampala and returned home to find that all my property had been taken, vandalized or sold by my relatives and the villagers. I tried to find work to do in vain. Villagers and children laughed at me and people at home ill-treated me. They would chase me with machetes and sticks, like an animal. I just kept thinking, 'Oh God, why am I like this?'

"I felt so bad that I wanted to hide and commit suicide, which I tried to do twice; first with a watch battery and then by drinking pesticide. I was not successful and I got discouraged."

It was at this time that Sentamu came into contact with BasicNeeds.

"I usually spent my time alone and went places alone. However, about a month ago, I was enticed to come to this clinic. When I started treatment, I got very weak at first and then very hungry."

Despite these side effects, Sentamu is determined to carry on with his medication, spurred on by the positive comments of his community.

"This month I have heard people say, 'Sentamu is now calm.' Others have said to me, 'Continue with the medication so you can get even better than you are now.' I am very grateful to this programme for the service given to people like me.

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