Twenty-four (24) new wellness coaches are following a ten-day training to learn about a holistic approach to maintain a healthy lifestyle and prevent non-communicable diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, obesity, chronic respiratory disease, and diabetes.

The session, an initiative of Anse Etoile based non-governmental organisation, Lighthouse Restoration Centre, got under way last Friday at the ex-Maritime Studies hall, at the Ministry of Education.

According to the project coordinator, Inese Hall, statistics from the Ministry of Health show an increase in those types of diseases, which is worrying.

The Vital Statistics report for 2021 from the Ministry of Health shows that the main causes of mortality in Seychelles had been the same for many years prior to 2021, with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) accounting for 48% of all deaths.

Mrs Hall said the NGO, whose been in existence for three years and whose mission is to promote and nurture the value of good health, family life and purposeful living through holistic initiatives, wants to lend a hand in the ministry’s fight against non-communicable diseases and complement what they are doing.

“People are still getting sick despite having so many doctors and pharmacies in the country. Our intervention comes prior to a person falling sick, where we take a holistic approach to how you can prevent diseases and stay healthy. So, we want to help the Ministry of Health in its fight against lifestyle diseases,” explained Mrs Hall.

Lighthouse Restoration Centre has been doing various community-based programmes since its inception but according to Mrs Hall this is the largest scale one where they train a group of trainers, who in return will pass on what they have learned to other potential wellness coaches.

“Eventually we want to have a big pool of people nationwide who will be able to share the wellness programme and ensure we have a healthy population,” added Mrs Hall.

The training is being done by medical specialist, with a passion for human wellness, Eswatini-born doctor, Muyabala Munachitombwe-Muna, who runs MUNA Healthlife Consultancy in his home country and countries in southern Africa. It is the first time that MUNA Healthlife Consultancy is sharing the programme outside of its region.

Dr Muyabala described wellness as a state of being well in spirit, the body and in the mind.

He explained that there are three states in which human beings can be found or pass through and these are wellness state, the sickness state, and the death state.

“Out of the three, the most important to employees and employers and for national development is the wellness state,” said Dr Muyabala.

However, he said that for so long, countries have interpreted health to be sickness as they focus more on building hospitals instead of wellness centres to teach people how to maintain a healthy lifestyle and remain healthy.

He stressed that for a community to develop, they need wellness and not sickness “because sickness is subtracting from development”.

During the ten days he will be teaching the wellness coaches how to maintain that state and how to manage. “In helping people, you need to help them holistically – spirit, body and mind. Firstly, I will teach them what is a human being and what is a human being when he is well and how can he lose that state and what should he do to maintain it,” said Dr Muyabala.

He added that for those who have already fallen sick, the programme will teach how chronic illness can be reversed, and that people can go back to living healthily.

“These people are going to be a very special group of people and I hope the government can incorporate them in their cadres and try to make sure they are part and parcel of people who are taking care of others because they are looking at people in different areas. Doctors look at people when they are sick, these ones will be looking at people when they are well and what to tell them what to do to continue being well, and if they get sick, what they should do to regain that wellness they lost by the disease,” explained Dr Muyabala.

The session is being funded under a R127,000 grant from government and following the training, the Lighthouse Restoration Centre will carry out two pilot projects at community level between now and December, when they will present their report.

They also plan to introduce various health initiatives at community level, including school and workplaces to promote healthy living.

Source: Seychelles Nation