In 2022, Ian and Claire Ferrer from PRIME were asked by a national Christian organisation, Nepal Christian Society (NCS) to provide a two-day mental health course for church leaders throughout the country, and for each of the seven districts in Nepal.
There is an increasing need in the country, and particularly the Nepali church community, to learn more about mental health as suicide rates continue to rise, especially among young people, and most people do not know how to start addressing these issues. Many struggle to acknowledge that mental health does exist and needs care just as much as any physical problem.
The program started in 2023, when church leaders from more remote provinces were invited to hear the teachings in some of the main cities of Katmandu, Pokhara and Tansen. In the last couple of years the program has been extended to reach the more isolated regions of the country.
