Yonas Belete

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT YONAS BELETE

I have years of experience in mental health services in Ethiopia. I am a dedicated mental health advocate focusing on creating mental health awareness. I have been consistently blogging on Facebook for more than five years. The page is titled \'Mental wellness የአእምሮ ጤና\" and the posts are mostly in Amharic (The official language of Ethiopia). I have written more than 500 articles on topics such as parenting styles, personality disorders, suicide, Autism.etc. among many others. I dedicate an hour everyday to reply to questions from followers of the page. I have provided mental health information for thousands of individuals. I have authored a book titled \"የአማኑኤል ሆስፒታል ታሪኮች\" which can be translated as \"Stories from a mental hospital\". It is a composite of fictional short stories about mental illness in Ethiopia. In, 2020, I founded Eudaimonia multi media-a company aimed at raising mental health awareness using the mass media. At Eudaimonia, my colleagues and I collaboratively hosted a weekly Sunday evening radio program for over a year on National radio station. After immigrating to Canada in 2021, I have continued working on mental health awareness for the East African Community with the same zeal but with a different medium, I started Tik Tok, and YouTube channels. In recognition of my works, I was awarded the Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI) fellowship in 2019. I am keenly looking forward to working on the intersectionality between mental illness and immigration. I envision bridging mental health services and East African immigrants.