last month, Meghan Markle and Prince HarryThe purpose of the couple’s trip to Nigeria was to spend time at the Lightway Academy, where they participated in a mental health summit focused on giving young people the tools to cope with their emotions. The summit was part of the couple’s philanthropic partnership with the GEANCO Foundation, a Los Angeles-based organization that supports education and healthcare in the West African country. According to GEANCO’s CEO: Afam Onyema, The partnership continues and will see Archewell Foundation continue to support mental health programs for teenagers in Nigeria.
Onyema said. Vanity Fair Prince Harry gave a speech about his own mental health struggles, which had a visible impact on the students. “Prince Harry encouraged the students to open up and realise it’s okay to not be okay,” he said. “The students were really inspired by Prince Harry and Meghan, and the questions they asked about mental health showed that they were keen to learn more.”
Meghan and Harry first partnered with the foundation in 2023 to support a program that provided menstrual products and education to 2,500 girls in Nigeria. Late last year, Archewell approached Onyema with the idea of expanding their support to include an all-gender mental health component. GEANCO worked with a team of licensed psychiatrists and psychologists to create a two-day curriculum focused on the fundamentals of mental health and its application to teens’ lives.
While the main focus of the trip was to support injured veterans and promote Nigeria’s participation in the recent Invictus Games, the Duke and Duchess also managed to spend a day with Lightway students at the launch of the program. The couple gave speeches that touched on some of the core ideas that would be discussed, such as friendship and making connections, drawing on their own experiences.
“Harry said during his talk, ‘Is there a friend in class who looks down? Is there a friend who you’re hanging out with who looks sick? Are they OK?'” Onyema explains. The curriculum then unpacks these themes with trained facilitators. “The facilitators would ask, ‘Have you ever been stressed about an exam? Have you ever been stressed about a family situation or a relationship? If so, how do you deal with that?'”
While not all students would benefit from starting their seminars with a pep talk from a well-known mental health advocate, Meghan and Harry wanted to create something that would continue beyond their visit to the country. “They want to create a lasting program that will have an impact for years to come,” Onyema says. “We’re thrilled to have them on board as partners. This isn’t just a photo op or a one-off activity. They’re really committed and want this to be an ongoing part of their work, a major part of their work.”
Onyema says Lightway Academy students are still benefiting from the first summit: “The Duke and Duchess have certainly inspired us to be excited about our continued growth and, weeks after the summit, we’re still preparing for the remaining ones. [the lessons]”Kids are still questioning things and challenging the status quo,” he adds. “It’s great to be a part of that change. A lot of work needs to be done at the government funding level, but we’re trying to make a difference in a small but impactful way.”
