HEADLINE: PRAYING FOR A CURE April 27, 2015 SUMMARY: In West Africa, hundreds of people with mental illnesses live in unimaginable conditions. One organization is fighting to give people back their dignity with a new approach to mental health treatment. Opening Shot: woman in chains on block (00:05:29) Patient: Who did this? / It hurts? SOUND-UP: Prayer center, patients shouting MANY OF THESE PEOPLE HAVE MENTAL ILLNESSES. THEIR DESPERATE FAMILIES HAVE LEFT THEM HERE BECAUSE THEY HAVE NOWHERE ELSE TO TURN. DAILY PRAYERS ARE THEIR ONLY TREATMENT. (00:26:10) TITLE CARD Praying for a Cure By The International Reporting Program THIS PRAYER CENTRE IS ONE OF THE LARGEST IN TOGO, AND ONE OF MANY ACROSS WEST AFRICA. THIS EVANGELICAL PASTOR SAYS HE’S DOING GOD’S WORK HERE. (00:40:11) LT: Paul Noumonvi Pastor, “Jesus is the Solution” Prayer Center (00:44:27) PN: If someone is sick with mental illness, / they come here and we will pray for them / and by the grace of God, they will be healed. (00:54:00) GA: A man or a woman tied to a block, / it’s not the family’s fault.They don’t know what to do. B-roll of Grégoire hugging patient (01:03:09) LT: Grégoire Ahongbonon Founder, Saint-Camille-de-Lellis GRÉGOIRE AHONGBONON HAS SPENT HIS LIFE TRYING TO PROVIDE AN ALTERNATIVE FOR PEOPLE WITH MENTAL ILLNESSES. (01:11:19) GA: People with mental illnesses are the forgotten of the forgotten. / They are treated as if they’ve been possessed by witchcraft. / They’re treated like garbage, like human trash in our society. AHONGBONON IS THE FOUNDER OF SAINT-CAMILLE-DE-LELLIS, A MENTAL HEALTH ORGANIZATION THAT RUNS EIGHT CENTRES IN IVORY COAST, BENIN, AND BURKINA FASO. Map of Benin / Benin b-roll WE VISITED HIM IN BENIN, ONE OF THE POOREST COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD. THE GOVERNMENT SPENDS LITTLE ON HEALTH CARE. MEDICAL TREATMENT FOR PEOPLE WITH MENTAL ILLNESS IS ALMOST NONEXISTENT. Gregoire Interview (01:46:09) GA: They are the last concern of our authorities. / In Benin, where I’m from, there is just one psychiatric hospital. / If you have no money, they won’t take you. SUV Sequence AHONGBONON USED TO RUN A SUCCESSFUL TIRE REPAIR BUSINESS. BUT IN THE 1980S, IT WENT UNDER AND HE FELL INTO DEPRESSION. (02:04:14) GA: I lost so much that I almost killed myself. / I started living a very, very miserable life. Gregoire meeting man and giving him bread HE REALIZED THAT IN WEST AFRICA, MOST PEOPLE WITH MENTAL ILLNESSES GET NO TREATMENT. HE STARTED SAINT-CAMILLE TO PROVIDE CARE TO ANYONE WHO NEEDED IT. SOUND-UP: Consultation between patient and male nurse Avrankou B Roll - consultation, waiting room, getting pills CLOSE TO 300 NEW PATIENTS COME TO SAINT-CAMILLE’S CENTRES IN BENIN EVERY MONTH. THEY GET FOOD AND SHELTER, A DIAGNOSIS, AND, FOR A SMALL FEE, REGULAR DOSES OF PSYCHOTROPIC MEDICATION. SOUND-UP: John mumbling, water being poured on John’s head, shaving AT ONE CENTRE, AHONGBONON BROUGHT IN JOHN OFF THE STREETS. THE STAFF CLEANED HIM, SHAVED HIS HEAD AND GAVE HIM FRESH CLOTHES. (02:54:00) GA: He spent nights and days without ever washing himself. / These are people who will even drink / water from the streets, from the gutters. SOUND-UP: John with nurse in consultation room JOHN RECEIVED ROUTINE MEDICAL TESTS AND A PSYCHIATRIC ASSESSMENT. MOST PATIENTS HERE HAVE SEVERE MENTAL ILLNESSES LIKE SCHIZOPHRENIA AND BIPOLAR DISORDER. (03:14:15) LT: Pierre Sans Volunteer psychiatrist PIERRE SANS, A VOLUNTEER PSYCHIATRIST, SAYS THE DRUGS PATIENTS TAKE ARE EFFECTIVE, EVEN WITHOUT PSYCHOTHERAPY. (03:22:01) PS: A very sick person, with many hallucinations, / Saint-Camille brings them out of it very quickly. / Sometimes in a few days. It’s absolutely astounding. Man sleeping on floor, patients in waiting room BUT SAINT-CAMILLE CANNOT MONITOR PATIENTS OVER THE LONG TERM, WHICH MEANS THEY RISK BEING OVER-MEDICATED. (03:36:24) PS: We see patients that had an acute psychotic episode / that we continue to treat with heavy medications. / That’s where we have a real problem. / Are they really people with schizophrenia / that must continue to be treated with heavy medication? SOUND-UP: Nurse talking (03:53:23) Nurse: Are you eating well? Are you getting enough water? NURSES PROVIDE MOST OF THE CARE. SAINT-CAMILLE GIVES THEM BASIC TRAINING, BUT MUCH OF THE TIME, THEY’RE ON THEIR OWN. AHONGBONON DOESN’T DENY THE CHALLENGES. (04:07:15) GA: But to me, the most important thing / is not necessarily healing every single person. / It’s the dignity of each person. / That’s our goal. Patient sewing sequence AT SAINT-CAMILLE, PATIENTS ALSO LEARN PRACTICAL SKILLS THEY CAN USE TO EARN MONEY. SOUND-UP: In Bakery RAYMOND MADOU WAS ONE OF SAINT-CAMILLE’S PATIENTS. ONCE HE BEGAN TO TAKE MEDICATION FOR BIPOLAR DISORDER, AHONGBONON HELPED HIM SET UP THIS BAKERY. HE NOW RUNS IT WITH OTHER RECOVERED PATIENTS. (04:41:28) Ray: Work is what makes a person. / Without work, we are nothing. / If the others also find work to do, / they will also find joy in life, like I did. BEFORE HE CAME TO ST-CAMILLE, MADOU’S FAMILY TRIED EVERYTHING THEY COULD TO HELP HIM. (05:01:09) Ray: Every year, I relapsed. / My parents took me to traditional healers. / They spent all their money. Woman praying, sad man in chains LIKE MANY OTHERS, HE ENDED UP CHAINED AT A PRAYER CENTRE LIKE THIS ONE. ACROSS WEST AFRICA, THESE PLACES OF WORSHIP PROMISE TO CURE ANY AILMENT, INCLUDING MENTAL ILLNESS. THEY APPEAL TO FAMILIES WITH VERY FEW OPTIONS. Gregoire getting into SUV AHONGBONON BELIEVES SAINT-CAMILLE HAS HELPED TO SHUT DOWN PRAYER CENTRES IN BENIN. (05:33:21) GA: There was a prayer centre here / where there were more than 250 sick people. / But today, there are no more sick people there / because when we started, the families saw the results / and they went and unchained the sick people / and brought them to us. BUT PRAYER CENTRES ARE STILL THRIVING IN NEIGHBOURING TOGO. AHONGBONON TOOK US TO THE LARGEST ONE HE’S SEEN. SOUND-UP: Car motor driving IT’S CALLED JESUS IS THE SOLUTION. IT’S RUN BY PAUL NOUMONVI. (06:04:05) PN: I’ve had my ministry here for 12 years. NOUMONVI’S CENTRE HAS BECOME ONE OF THE LARGEST IN TOGO. HE TOLD US PATIENTS DON’T PAY FOR TREATMENT, BUT FAMILIES SOMETIMES GIVE GIFTS WHEN THEY’RE HEALED. HE ALSO RUNS PRAYER GATHERINGS THAT ATTRACT THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WHO DONATE TO HIS CHURCH. SOUND-UP of prayer gathering (06:25:01) PN: Over here is where they stay. HE TOOK US BEHIND THE PRAYER HALL, WHERE PEOPLE WITH MENTAL ILLNESSES ARE KEPT. Turn the corner THERE ARE 153 MEN AND WOMEN HERE. SOUND-UP: Inside prayer camp PATIENTS STAY FOR WEEKS, MONTHS, EVEN YEARS, OFTEN WITHOUT ANY DIAGNOSIS. Grégoire talking to man in chains Grégoire approaches Victorine (07:03:06) Victorine: Welcome! (07:09:04) GA: What’s your name? (07:10:20) Victorine: Victorine. (07:12:29) Victorine: I wasn’t sick. / (07:14:28) I am not crazy. THESE PEOPLE SLEEP OUTSIDE IN ALL WEATHER, LIVING IN THEIR OWN FILTH, UNTIL NOUMONVI SEES A SIGN THAT THEY ARE HEALED. (07:26:00) PN: If I start to pray for someone and he finds the cure, / he himself will ask to be bathed. / But as long as he is not healed, / if we tell him that he has to go and wash, he will say no. More shots of prayer centre AHONGBONON NOW WANTS TO EXPAND SAINT-CAMILLE TO TOGO. Grégoire & Koffi (07:46:19) GA: Brother. Hello, my very dear brother. / (07:50:00) How are you? / (07:52:06) What is your name? / (07:54:10) Koffi. / (07:55:27) Have courage, Koffi. HE WANTS TO ENSURE THAT PEOPLE WITH MENTAL ILLNESSES ALWAYS HAVE A SAFE PLACE TO GO. Picture stays on Koffi & Grégoire (08:03:09) GA: Because as long as there is one man in chains, / it is humanity that is chained. / When I see a man tied to wood or in chains, / I see my own image. / (08:15:17) And it’s the image of each and every one of us. END Credits: Maura Forrest Linda Givetash Gian-Paolo Mendoza David Rummel