Last month, one of the highlights of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s trip to Nigeria was their visit to Lightway Academy, where they participated in a mental health summit aimed at equipping teens with tools to manage their emotions. The summit was part of the couple’s charity partnership with the GEANCO Foundation, a Los Angeles-based organization that supports education and medical care in Nigeria. According to GEANCO’s CEO Afam Onyema, the partnership is ongoing, and the Archewell Foundation’s support for mental health programs for Nigerian teens will continue into the future.
Onyema told Vanity Fair that Harry’s speech, which detailed some of his own mental health struggles, had a significant impact on the students. “He inspired those kids to open up and realize it’s okay to not be okay,” Onyema said. “They were inspired so much by Harry and Meghan. From the questions they asked about mental health, you could tell they were eager to learn more.”
Meghan and Harry first partnered with the GEANCO Foundation in 2023, supporting a program to distribute period supplies and provide education about menstruation to 2,500 girls in Nigeria. Late last year, Archewell approached Onyema with an idea to expand this support by adding a mental health component for all genders. With the help of a licensed psychiatrist and a team of psychologists, GEANCO developed a two-day curriculum focusing on mental health basics and their application to teen life.
Although the cornerstone of their trip was to support wounded veterans and promote Nigeria’s entry into the Invictus Games, the duke and duchess managed to spend a day with the students at Lightway Academy as they began the mental health program. They gave speeches touching on their own experiences with fundamental ideas such as friendship and making connections.
“Harry mentioned it during his talk: Do you see a friend in class who looks down? Do you see someone you’re playing with who is not feeling well? It’s about asking, Are you okay?” Onyema explained. The curriculum continued to explore these themes with trained facilitators. “The facilitator would ask, ‘Have you ever felt stressed about a test, or stressed about a family situation or a relationship? And what do you do to deal with that?’”
While not every student starts their seminar with a pep talk from high-profile mental health advocates, Meghan and Harry aimed to create something lasting. “They want to do a program that’s lasting, that has an effect throughout the years,” Onyema said. “We love the fact that they’re coming along as partners. It’s not just a photo op, or doing this one time. They really want to dig in and make this an ongoing part of their work, a major part of their work.”
The students at Lightway Academy continue to benefit from the initial summit. “The duke and duchess definitely lit a spark that we’re just happy to keep going and growing. And even now, weeks after that summit, as we’re preparing for the rest of [the lessons], kids are still asking questions, and they’re still challenging the status quo,” Onyema added. “It’s great to be able to be part of that change, and a lot needs to be done, a lot more on the government-funding level. But in our small but impactful way, we’re trying to make a difference.”
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