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Mon-Fri (8am - 5pm)
Sat-Sun (Closed)
Upper-Hill Matumbato Rd,
Nairobi, KE
Dr. Abdulkadir Hussein noticed, with growing concern, that many of his patients were not recovering from their physical ailments, despite receiving the necessary medical interventions.
Backaches, headaches, and general body pains that had previously been treated kept recurring, each time with greater intensity than before.
“I had been practicing for a long time, but I had never encountered anything like this, affecting both the young and the old equally,” Dr. Abdulkadir Hussein remarked during an interview at his clinic in Eastleigh.
Dr. Abdulkadir’s patients were not ordinary; they were Somali refugees who had fled their country when it had come under a raging civil war around 1991. The war triggered an influx of Somali refugees into Kenya, some of whom settled in Eastleigh and became known as the Somali urban refugees.
Eastleigh is a bustling commercial hub located east of the central business district, with a predominant Somali population.
In 2002, a chance encounter between Dr. Abdulkadir and Professor David Ndetei, the founder of Africa Institute of Mental and Brain Health (AFRIMEB), provided Dr. Abdulkadir with clarity regarding the root cause of his patients’ persistent pains.
“As we talked, I shared details about my patients, and he suggested they were likely experiencing psychosomatic symptoms. I was unfamiliar with the discipline of mental health those days,” he explained.
At the time Dr Abdulkadir was a general practitioner who had fled his native country, Somalia going first to Ethiopia and then settling in Kenya where he set up his clinic, Tawakal Medical Center.
This conversation with Professor Ndetei led Dr. Abdulkadir to enroll in further studies at the University of Nairobi, where he specialized in psychotrauma, psychoactive substance abuse, and clinical psychiatry.
In layman’s terms, psychosomatic disorders refer to physical symptoms triggered by psychological stress. The immense suffering and death experienced by the refugees meant their trauma often manifested as physical ailments, Dr. Abdulkadir explained.
Even though the refugees had reached a new environment, the memories of the war back home followed them relentlessly. “It didn’t matter that they were now in Kenya; mothers, fathers, and children carried the deep scars of war.”
Since the outbreak of the Somali war in 1991, an estimated 450,000 to 1.5 million people have lost their lives, 800,000 have fled, and another 1.5 million remain internally displaced.
With his newfound understanding of mental health, Dr. Abdulkadir began offering his patients psychological and psychiatric interventions.
“Soon, the recurring headaches subsided, and gradually I began to see improvements because we—my wife and a small team of psychologists—were addressing the root cause,” he said.
Having made progress in addressing mental health, Professor Ndetei and Dr. Abdulkadir turned their attention to the growing issue of unemployed youths.
“The youth had nothing to do after finishing school. They couldn’t get jobs because they lacked proper identification documents,” Dr. Abdulkadir explained.
After careful consideration, Professor Ndetei and Dr. Abdulkadir, with valuable input from the youth, established a support group for Somali urban youth as part of a psychosocial support project for urban refugees.
“A small number of them began meeting at my clinic to share their experiences. They even organized a traditional Somali dance group that was paid to perform at celebrations,” he said.
Mohamed Guyo*, 24, arrived in Kenya as a child riding on her mother’s back.
Growing up, he witnessed severe human rights violations and discrimination against his fellow Somalis. “The police harassed us constantly,” he said, his voice trailing off.
Limited access to the job market and ongoing police harassment meant many families struggled to survive. Mohamed’s family was no exception, and soon he turned to criminal activities.
“We were robbing people. It was just a way to get by so I could afford a few things. Many of my friends were killed during that time,” he recalled.
In 2014, his older sister, fearful of losing her brother to the violence, persuaded him to join the Tawakal youth group. “I didn’t like it at first, but I still went,” Mohamed admitted.
“I can’t pinpoint exactly when my attitude changed. It might have been gradual, but eventually, I stopped being a gangster,” he added.
“Some of the topics we covered like the history of Somalia and culture uplifted me and boosted my esteem not to mention the dance group which gave me a source of income and good friends,” he said.
Multiple reports indicate that Eastleigh was once regarded as a crime hotspot due to various factors. However, after the establishment of the rehabilitation program, Dr. Abdulkadir observed a significant decline in crime rates.
“I can’t claim it was entirely because of our work, but by empowering people, we gave them a second chance at life,” he reflected.
“You can’t change people’s behavior through threats, just as we learned during the early years of the HIV epidemic. You have to give people hope,” he added.
The first cohort of youths in the support group included 30 members. These reformed youths went on to establish other small groups outside Eastleigh.
Although he lacks exact figures, Dr. Abdulkadir believes that “many, many” youths have benefitted from the program, and more continue to join.
“Some have become successful businessmen, others have authored books, and many more have built admirable lives,” he concluded.
Mohamed who is currently enrolled in University says that his aspires to go back home and “be the president because I can bring change just as I changed the trajectory of my life,” he says in ending.
(AFRIMEB) is a public benefit organization, based in Kenya dedicated to research in mental and neurological health and, substance use to generate evidence for policy and best practice in the provision of affordable, appropriate, available and accessible mental health services.
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