Anxiety, stress, depression, schizophrenia, suicide…

These words itself shudder goosebumps for its crucial repercussions on a human being; but how well are we aware of the vitality to maintain healthy mental wellbeing and, how compassionate are we towards each other?

A single delicate word by you may change the whole life of another person but how well are you aware of the inside battle of thousand thoughts in a person? A person that’s close to your heart yet distant from thoughts can be struggling on their mind. The world needs to open their eyes and seek the silent battles everyone passes through every single day.

Butterfly Effect dedicated to create awareness and open the eyes of the community on the importance of mental health and compassion towards each other to ameliorate the mental wellbeing in society. Butterfly Effect 3.0 was a Community Service project done by the Rotaract club of University of Sri Jayewardenepura for the third consecutive year, in the months of September to October 2020 commemorating the World Suicide Prevention Day and the World Mental Health Day.

It was conducted in three main phases;

The phase 01 was organized commemorating the World Suicide Prevention Day which was held on the 10th of September. A press conference was held at the premises of Sumithrayo Sri Lanka and live-streamed on the Facebook page of RACUSJ, with the participation of professionals in the medical and mental health sector.

Dr. Udena Attygalle (Child and Adolescen Psychiatrist), Dr. Jayamal De Silva (Consultant and psychiatrist), Dr. Shehan Perera (Consultant Pediatric and cardiologist) honoured the occasion as guest speakers along with the Sumithrayo Sri Lanka.

Even with the social gathering restrictions due to the Covid-19 situation the discussion program successfully created awareness through social media platforms in the community on suicide prevention and illuminated how a responsible community can be helpful to a soul in such circumstances.

The phase 02 contributed to create awareness on the wellbeing of mental health by conducting a workshop for teens and young adults under suicidal thoughts and mental instability hand in hand with Sumithrayo Sri Lanka on the 27th of September 2020.

This phase was rather sensitive and challenging as locating target groups amongst a pandemic situation was quite a laborious task. Yet it engendered a very successful and helpful memory for the audience.

The phase 03, the final stage can be considered the most significant part of the Butterfly Effect 3.0. The donation campaign, the colour wash program, and the day spent with the patients at the National Institute of Mental Health, Angoda was conducted with the collaboration of Manusath Derena on the 04th of October 2020. The colour wash program was carried out a few days before the major event of the eve with the patients.

The symbolic donation distribution was done to the NIMH, Angoda. On the eve of the day, the time spent with the patients became a lifetime memory of all of us. The smiles drawn upon the faces of them made the day a success. A massive dedication and well-wishers were gained at this event both from insiders and from third parties. The participation of the Representatives of the District Steering Committee 2020-2021, Manusath Derena elaborated the eve with the patients of NIMH.

In a world of a never lasting competition, victory of fortune and work mental health has been deteriorating with no consideration. In the fast competing community that has lesser time to spend on their mental wellbeing naturally would tend to be less compassionate towards others.

The Butterfly Effect has been trying to change this perception in the community and will be dedicated to it for more and more upcoming years. Butterfly Effect 3.0 was rather challenging in action in the year 2020 with the global pandemic of Covid-19. However, amongst the ongoing health restrictions and regulations still we succeeded as a team to oblige our dream to a reality.

Written by: Rtr. Ishini Suriyarachchi