Table of Contents
- 1 Roberto Ravera: “We welcome children who are victims of abuse, trauma or disability”
- 2 The new center in Tokeh: “A beautiful space where children can be cared for”
- 3 Roberto Ravera in Sierra Leone: “When you spend yourself for others you gain a joyful and liberating strength”
- 4 In what ways has Dr. Ravera’s approach to patient care evolved to incorporate community involvement in Mamanso Sanka village?
In a world where mental health is too often overlooked, Roberto Raverainternationally renowned psychologist, head of the Complex Psychology Structure of the ASL1 Imperiese and founder of FHM ITALIA Onlinestands out for its commitment in Sierra Leone.
With over twenty years of experience, Ravera has built a unique model of psychological support and rehabilitation for children and adolescents victims of trauma, abuse and mental disability. The center Ravera Children Rehabilitation Centrelocated at Lacquera suburb of Freetown, represents the heart of this projectwhere the training and use of local staff have made it possible to create a system of excellence, also recognized at an international level. A job that combines passion, professionalism and an ethical vision, helping to transform lives and offer hope in one of the poorest countries in the world.
Now, Roberto Ravera is about to build a new center for children, again in Sierra Leone and we reached him by phone to tell us about this important project.
Roberto Ravera: “We welcome children who are victims of abuse, trauma or disability”
Your commitment to Sierra Leone is now well known. There are many projects that you are carrying out with the NGO Ravera Children Rehabilitation Center in Sierra Leone. Do you want to tell us how they proceed?
The aim of the work we carry out in Sierra Leone is the creation and support of a residential and territorial socio-health network aimed at mental health of minors. Over the course of almost two decades we have developed a strong integration with the local reality (hospitals, ministries and above all the police) for welcome children who are victims of abuse and trauma or of serious mental disabilities. Starting from the Lakka Clinical Center (a suburb of Freetown), over the years we have built many projects to respond to specific needs and emergencies.
The therapeutic community of Mamanso Sanka
I think a winning aspect was that of invest in all local staff; in fact, RCRC has around thirty Sierra Leonean employees – including management – and this has allowed them to develop truly amazing skills and abilities. Our FHM ITALIA onlus association not only fully finances the entire organisation, construction and projects, but we volunteers take care of the professional training of the RCRC staff. As a demonstration of these skills, one of them was recently invited to give a seminar in Lagos, Nigeria, in the field of trauma psychology. The task of FHM ITALIA onlus is to guarantee the financing of RCRC as it is not and will never be a company that can generate profits.
Over the years, there have been thousands of patients we have taken care of children and young people among the poorest and most fragilewho had the misfortune of being born in a country that does not have public healthcare, much less sensitivity to mental health. It is no coincidence that we are one of the rare non-governmental organizations to have expertise and structures in this field.
The serious problem of the drug kush: devastating effects and a very strong addiction among young people
Furthermore, we have read that at the moment there is a strong addiction to kush among younger kids, are you also addressing this problem?
To understand what this is drug so widespread in Sierra Leone, it is necessary to understand that it is a substance that comes smoked and based on synthetic cannabinoids, volatile solvents and Fentanyl. The latter is a synthetic opioid fifty times more potent than heroincapable of developing devastating side effects and a very strong addiction in consumers. A dose of kush costs very little even for a poor country like Sierra Leone. It seems clear that drug traffickers have been able to put one on the market drug capable of responding to the fragility and vulnerability of a young population most of whom are unemployed and marginalized.
The Lakka clinical center
As there is no public health system capable of responding to this epidemic, such as RCRC we have activated several prevention projects for which we were even quoted by local newspapers. But above all we finally have created the new therapeutic community in Mamanso Sankaa village four hours’ drive from the capital and where our secondary school with 350 students has already been active since 2014. In the community the children will be cared for for the necessary time and subsequently school courses and job placement in agricultural projects or other training activities are planned. The fascinating thing about this project is that in recent years we have worked to always find an agreement with the Paramount Chiefs (the village leaders) and the entire community. In this way the entire social environment is involved in the care of our patientscreating a virtuous environment that makes this place much more sustainable and livable than the city. We will be inaugurating the Mamanso community center in a week and this must be a great satisfaction for us Italians who believed in this project.
The new center in Tokeh: “A beautiful space where children can be cared for”
Now you are busy with the construction of a new children’s center in Tokeh. How will it work, who will it be for?
Il new center of Tokeh responds to the need to expand and improve the current clinical center in Lakka where we have been for over 15 years and which has hosted thousands of children from zero to thirteen years old. In Tokeh we are building one beautiful and functional spacewhere children will find a suitable environment to receive treatment from a medical, psychological, educational and rehabilitative point of view. Some of the children who are brought to our center have severe disabilities, requiring special care and attention and they will stay with us for the rest of their lives. The new center of Tokeh is in an area further from Freetown, near a natural park and not far from the sea; here the children and the workers they will live in a healthy environmentwith everything needed to improve the quality of their life. We are also building some houses to host volunteers who want to live an extraordinary professional and human experience. Despite the amount of work, costs and commitment required, we hope to have the inauguration at the end of 2025.
The new clinical center in Tokeh. On the left, Dr. Roberto Ravera
How does the local community respond to these incredible initiatives of yours?
Those who were with us in Sierra Leone were able to see first-hand all the activities we are involved in: residential clinical centres, medical, psychological, legal and rehabilitative assistance for children in juvenile prisons, medical clinics in Kroobay, Mamanso Sanka High Secondary School, therapeutic community for adolescents, professional training courses for young people, agriculture projects, etc. But the beautiful thing is the respect and affection that as Italian volunteers we have earned over all these years. I have made many mistakes, I have made wrong choices, I admit it, but I have always had an authentic form of love for this country and for these people and I have never stopped believing in what we do together with them.
Roberto Ravera in Sierra Leone: “When you spend yourself for others you gain a joyful and liberating strength”
You have been active in Sierra Leone for more than 15 years now, what makes you want to stay longer?
I go back to what I said earlier. By now I feel part of this worldI don’t say this with a banal form of rhetoric of charity. I have always felt fascination, curiosity and interest in this incredible reality and I have expressed here where I am now the same type of skills that I put into my work in Italy. We are all human equally, but it’s interesting to see how our cultural and ethnic software makes us so different. Not having the certainties and points of reference of my environment or in my healthcare company around me pushed me to put myself out there, to develop considerable inner strength.
I would like our young people to understand what I say. When you spend yourself for others you gain a joyful and liberating strengthbecause you free yourself a little from yourself. Not looking only at your own navel opens up energies whose existence you never suspected. Those who are here with me can confirm this and, as an example, I cite Giacomo, a young multi-graduate and manager, who has decided to work with us in Sierra Leone in recent weeks. I wish you could see his gaze when we are among those who are the last on earth. I wonder: what price should all this have?
Some kids from juvenile prison
I conclude by saying that Being here I understand how difficult life can be for people. Today I happened to see a truly disconcerting scene. Near an intersection a group of women were selling fruit in an aluminum container. At a certain point a policeman got out of a van and ran and took her entire plate of fruit. The poor woman saw the fruit of her meager labor disappear in an instant and her gaze – and that of the other women around – made me understand that this episode was not unusual. Although in recent years I have seen worse, I still can’t get used to the injustices and suffering of people. Especially those who are the most vulnerable. I hope I always have the strength to continue to ease some of this pain“.
And we can’t do anything else thank Roberto Ravera and his entire team for this incredible work and for the strong and emotional teaching that he conveyed to us even in these few simple words.
Selena Marvaldi
In what ways has Dr. Ravera’s approach to patient care evolved to incorporate community involvement in Mamanso Sanka village?
1. What inspired Dr. Roberto Ravera to start his humanitarian work in Sierra Leone?
2. How has his work expanded over the years to include various prevention projects and the creation of new therapeutic communities?
3. How are the entire social environments involved in the care of patients at Mamanso Sanka village, and what makes this more sustainable and livable than living in the capital?
4. Can you describe the new clinical center in Tokeh and its purpose?
5. How does the local community respond to the various initiatives undertaken by Dr. Ravera and his team?
6. What personal growth has Dr. Ravera experienced through his work in Sierra Leone, and how does he believe it can benefit young people today?
7. Can you discuss the challenges faced by the local population, including injustices and suffering, and how Dr. Ravera’s team aims to address these issues?
8. What are the future plans for his humanitarian work in Sierra Leone, and how can individuals contribute to supporting these efforts?
