Leading Sidewalk Talk in Kathmandu, Nepal with Dr. Narendra Thagunna

Standout Quotes:

• We need to sit out and listen for four hours in Katmandu because we get a long queue of people waiting to talk and we want to make sure everyone gets heard.
• Nepal is a very welcoming and friendly society but we still suffer from the same mental illness rates as much of the world.  Sidewalk Talk is helping make therapists visible in the community.
• Traci, Sidewalk Talk has become so valued, we are looking to bring this to four other cities in Nepal. 

 

Dr. Narendra Thagunna is an advocate for suicide awareness and cross-cultural psychology in Nepal.  He teaches and runs a research foundation called Psychdesk.

Sidewalk Talk has become a way to make therapy and sharing what is really on someone’s mind a normal part of life in Dr. Thagunna’s city.  In fact, when Sidewalk Talk listeners in Katmandu, all therapists, sit on the sidewalk, they are still offering the same “non-therapeutic listening” but often it becomes a gateway for people to feel comfortable going to the clinic for a second visit if they need it.  The community now sees that these therapists are people just like them by being out on the street.

There are big hopes to take Sidewalk Talk up on their community grant program that will supply four more chapters with the tools they need to start a Sidewalk Talk in other parts of Nepal.

 

This is where you come in.  Today is #GivingTuesday. We need 100 people to raise their hand and say “YES! I know this connecting work is the thing that is going to make a real difference in healing all the divides that make people, our communities, our politics, and our planet well.”

 

Will you be one of the 100 to invest monthly in Sidewalk Talk to sustain Dr. Thangunna’s work and all the other chapters around the world?