Okoro was collected from the streets of Umuahia, the capital of Abia State, during the first week of January. He had been living beside a waste dump site. He appeared very unkempt with overgrown fingernails and he wore multiple female wigs which he tied on his hair. He was also wearing 15 women’s bras. He asked us where we were taking him to, and we assured him that he was going somewhere safe and will be taken care of.

When he arrived at Amaudo he was able to bathe and have a hair cut. He had no insight about his mental health problems, and he claimed to be employed at the local dump site where he was paid N12,000 every month! He made remarkable progress during his first week at Amaudo, especially in his physical appearance. He was happy that he was given soap to bathe with and that Amaudo has given him clothes to wear. In fact, he removed his clothes to show staff that his body was clean. He was equally happy that the centre provided regular meals for him to eat. His delusions of working at the dump and being paid a monthly salary remained strong in the first few weeks and he regularly requested that Amaudo take him back to the dump to claim his salary.

Within 2 months of living at Amaudo, Okoro was able to take care of himself with minimal supervision. He happily engaged with the farming project, learning new skills. He worked very hard and was proud of his achievements, he told staff that when he harvests the vegetables he will take them to the kitchen so the cook can use them to prepare soup for the other residents.

He has been able to tell us his State of origin, which is the first step in us being able to trace his family. Most of our residents are able to go home once they are well, but initially it takes time to locate their families and communities. Once we do, we work hard with them to re-establish the relationship and inform them about mental health issues. We are looking forward to planning this process with Okoro at our next ward round.

Okoro is emerging as a kind, hardworking and fun-loving member of our community. He loves to play draughts with other residents during our indoor games’ afternoons.

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