Dr. Daphne: It is gratifying to see young people accomplish their goals.

Dr Daphne Kagume is a Mental Health Therapist, Advocate and Consultant with a strong social justice and multicultural background as well as an unwavering passion for helping individuals and communities overcome adversity and thrive. Her work has centered around gender, social justice, and multicultural issues with a major focus on Trauma-Informed Practice. She has special interest in how the intersection of Gender-based Violence, oppression and Trauma impacts individual and community well-being and factors that contribute to individual and community resilience. She is vastly experience as she has worked in various settings including NGOs, Higher Education, private practice and has held various roles including Programme Manager, Therapist, Community Advocate, Clinical Supervisor, and Advisor on Trauma-Informed Practice and Adjunct Faculty.

Dr. Daphne is intentional in using her skills and professional experience to bring about positive change around mental health and well-being in Kenya. She envisions a country where every individual will have equitable access to quality and affordable mental health service.

She has been a mentor at ELF for one year in the space of social services and academia. Her experience has been wonderful as she gets to experience growth in the young women that she mentors. “It is gratifying to witness them accomplishing the goals they have set, becoming more and more confident and learning to chart their own path,” she adds.

Her biggest challenge in mentorship, however, has been on her availability and the availability of her mentees to meet physically due to distance and other constraints.

According to her, good mentorship starts with having a good fit between the mentor and the person being mentored. “It is important for both to take the initiative and for the mentee to be clear about what they want to accomplish through the mentorship relationship. Clear and open communication is also important. Communication on goals, successes, challenges and barriers.”

Her advice to professional who are getting into mentorship or may be interested, “This is a very rewarding journey and I would encourage people to do it to help grow young leaders for tomorrow. Young people can look at problems with fresh eyes and bring innovative solutions. Mentorship requires consistent effort from both parties, so mentors need to be ready to put in the time and effort to see results.”

“I have been very blessed to have met wonderful professionals who have mentored me and guided me in my career journey. This is my way of paying it forward.”

Her favourite quote: ‘Just like moons and like suns, with the certainty of tides; Just like hopes springing high, Still I will rise’ Maya Angelou