Without urgent help, Demesugh will continue to suffer unthinkable injustice
Generous CBM supporters help fight injustice in many ways other than ending needless blindness and physical disability. You also help us reach people living in poverty who suffer injustice, stigmatisation and exclusion because of mental health issues.
People like Demesugh, who was chained up because he was experiencing psychosis brought on by cerebral malaria.
Demesugh needs you to put your faith and actions together today.
Demesugh recalls what it was like to suffer mental health challenges beyond his control…
“I was not able to sleep. I will just be awake, even night or day. I’ll be hearing noises… I thought that I was useless.”
Demesugh didn’t know what was happening to him. Because sadly, Demesugh lives in a part of the world where mental illness is not just misunderstood… it is feared.
Some traditional beliefs see mental illness as punishment from deities and ancestors. It often leads to severe stigma and injustice from others in the community.
As a result, there are usually no services available to help people in Demesugh’s situation. Which means things only get worse and worse.
Help end injustice for people like Demesugh with mental health conditions.
When you put your strong faith and good deeds together, you can help provide Demesugh and people like him with the practical and professional mental health support they need that will reconnect them with their families and communities.
Demesugh was desperate and had nowhere to turn. And instead of receiving help from people in his own community, he was chained to a tree.
“I have a scar where they chained me. They would use canes on me.”
Day after day, night after night, Demesugh was in anguish, chained to that tree. Heavy rain would pour down on his shivering body. But no one would come to release him.
Change the lives of people trapped in the cycle of poverty and disability, including those with mental illness.
Through your faith and deeds working together, you can help transform the lives of so many people like Demesugh.
“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?” James 2:14
You can help in so many ways, such as enabling our mental health field workers to find people like Demesugh, restoring their mental health through therapy and medication, teaching them new skills so they can overcome their mental health condition and reconnecting them with their families and communities.
Demesugh’s faith is astounding, even in the depths of his horrendous suffering.
Your faith and deeds can help free Demesugh from injustice, starting today!
After being chained up instead of receiving the help he needed from his community, Demesugh said…
“I believe God was the one who was looking after me and preserved me even
through everything.”
Today, he is desperately praying for help to overcome unthinkable stigma and exclusion from those around him.
If this story has triggered anything for you, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.