Sabeen Mahmud Diarah

The Face-to-Face Pilot

The Sabeen Mahmud Diarah is all about creating ‘Safe Spaces’ in schools to provide students an opportunity to voice themselves without the fear of being judged. The idea was piloted at the PECHS Girls’ School in August 2019. The idea was introduced to students of six sections of Classes 9 and 10, by Mahenaz Mahmud. She went to each section to have a chat with the students. She introduced the idea of the Diarah and said to them that they could talk about anything that was on their mind without anyone judging them and in complete confidence. She said these sessions were not mandatory; only those who were interested could sign up to attend. Volunteer students took responsibility for sign-up sheets and it was left to them to decide where the meetings should take place. Interestingly, they selected Sabeen’s Sanctuary, a safe corner in the school’s Faiz Library, that houses Sabeen’s childhood books. 

The students really valued these discussions. Some said they had never had the opportunity/permission to speak with an adult about such subjects / issues which are on their minds anyway. We talked about self-esteem and anxiety, feminism, their dreams for the future and how difficult it was for a girl to have dreams that were not mainstream, exam stress, parental pressure, death and depression, domestic violence and much more. Six months later, we were right in the middle of the Pandemic! 

Online Posts during the Pandemic

So after a while, like the rest of the world we had no option but to go online. Dairah then became our social media campaign that aimed to educate and raise awareness on youth mental health. Most importantly, it aimed to be an online version of a safe and inclusive space that Sabeen had envisioned for young people in Pakistan - a space where young people can share their lived experiences of mental health and, through conversations, provide comfort and support to one another.  

During the Pandemic, we created some original online content on topics such as: what mental health means and the difference between Poor Mental Health and Mental Illness. We also put out posts on the difference between Psychotherapist, Counsellor, Psychiatrist and Psychologist which is often confusing for people and how to get help and what to expect in a therapy session. These were followed by several posts on topics such as: body image and body shaming, how to release trapped emotions, ways to manage constant worrying and what can help if you struggle to talk about your mental health. Check out the posts here.

The Voice Yourself & In Our Own Words Series

In January 2021, the Sabeen Mahmud Dairah also shared a series of posts and videos on Facebook and Instagram titled The Voice Yourself & In Our Own Words Series, from teachers, students and professionals who shared their mental health challenges. Amongst them, we had Shehzad Ghias Shaikh talk about Mental Health & Suicidal Ideation, Aun Ali talked about his Journey with Dyslexia, Mohsin Kazi about his Journey through Trauma & Mental Illness, and Maleeha Qudrat talked about her Journey with Mental health. Click here to explore more posts.