South Africa | Mental Health | Disaster Recovery

Key Achievements

• Film: “Healing After the Floods: Trauma-Informed Mental Health Support for Survivors in Mthatha and Durban”

Long after floodwaters recede in South Africa, survivors continue to live with trauma, loss, and limited access to mental health support. The team worked to document these hidden psychological scars and draw attention to the urgent need for sustained, trauma-informed mental health support for affected communities.

The project explored how flood survivors, including women, men, and children, cope with displacement, loss, stigma, and limited access to counseling services. By centering survivor voices and community experiences, the team highlighted the long road to emotional recovery and the gaps that remain in post-disaster mental health care and follow-up.

Journalists and health experts combined survivor interviews with clinical insights to produce radio segments, features, podcasts, infographics, and photo stories.

The work encouraged care-seeking, mobilised community support, and demonstrated how trauma-informed storytelling can move audiences from awareness to action.

“After sharing his story, a survivor who had lived without shelter for over a year received help to rebuild his home — showing how storytelling can lead to real, tangible change.”