Volunteers in Action

UNVs take care of Kosovo’s mentally handicapped Prisoners
By Angela Griep

Lipjan/Lipljan, December 2002-- Lipjan prison is the first prison in Kosovo that takes care of mentally ill criminals, who before the war were sent to Belgrade. UNVs Jane Muya from Kenya, Psychiatric Nurse, and Dr. Teofilo Britanico from the Philippines, Physician with a specialization on Psychiatry, are responsible for the treatment of the mentally ill and for the training of the local staff that never dealt with mentally handicapped people before.

When Jane arrived in Kosovo in May 2002, the prison officers basically locked and unlocked the cell-doors. Due to their lack of experience in handling mentally handicapped people a lot of problems from hygiene to special needs came up. Since the prisoners spent most of their time in their cells doing nothing, many of them were unhappy, even screaming and banging at the doors. Jane worked hard on setting up a program that keeps them busy. “Now the officers go with them to the sports lesson once a day, they do drawing projects with them, a Danish NGO started a sewing project, we have a basketball court, table tennis, we implemented a dining room with TV and music, they have something to do now and don’t feel useless anymore”, Jane explains.

Another big problem was that prisoners are expected to clean their cells on their own, a difficult task for some mentally handicapped. “It was horribly dirty”, Jane points out. “But now the officers know how to explain what to do. They even make sure that someone cleans for those who are not able to do it alone. As you can see it is very clean now.”

While Jane is responsible for the training of the local staff, Dr. Britanico deals with the diagnosis and treatment of the mentally handicapped. “Especially the court needs to know what kind of illness the detainee has, what the findings are and what kind of treatment I would recommend”, he states.
Besides that he is responsible for all ‘problematic’ prisoners in Lipjan and Dubrava prison. “When a prisoner has mental problems or causes problems by his or her behavior, the prison officers call me and ask me to come or to give some advice on what psychotropic medications to prescribe and how to deal with the person’s behavior”, he explains.

In addition to improving the living conditions of the mentally handicapped in the prison, Jane and Dr. Britanico try to build a close contact to the families of their proteges. “We can give a more specific treatment if we learn more about the particular person”, Dr. Britanico explains. “In addition to that we encourage the families to pay regular visits to their relative, so that the latter don’t feel lonely and depressed which wouldn’t be helpful for their treatment. A total treatment includes everybody who belongs to the environment of the particular person.”

The concept seems to work. “Since Jane and the doctor are here the mentally handicapped are more quiet, they seem to be happier and we are happier too because it is more and more fun to work with them”, one of the prison officers says cheerfully. The nurse and the psychiatrist likewise enjoy the outcome of their work. “It is a good feeling to see how things improve”, Jane confirms.

Dr. Britanico and Jane both flash back to nearly 18 years of working experience.
Janes educational background includes psychiatric and intensive care nurse. For a training in management and critical care she did additional studies in Japan. She worked with the NGO Medecins du Monde doing a primary health care program in Southern Sudan. Later she went to East Timor with the same organization. From there she applied for a UNV post in Kosovo. Jane likes new experiences, meeting new people and seeing different countries. “I never worked in a prison before, I haven’t even visited anybody in prison in my country before”, she smiles. “So I was kind of curious. And I like the challenge of dealing directly with the local community. So my UNV assignment at Lipjan prison is perfect for me.”

Dr. Britanico has been working as a psychiatrist in different cultural surroundings. “I worked as a private practitioner in Iran for 3 years, I was a UNV in Jakarta for a project regarding drug abuse prevention, treatment and rehabilitation, I worked as a UNV Information Assistant at the World Expo in Hannover, Germany, I was Head of a Psychiatric Hospital at the Philippines, Psychiatrist at the Philippine Refugee Processing Center, Psychiatric Consultant and so much more”, he counts off the different stations of his career. The psychiatrist enjoys expanding his knowledge about people, different cultures and languages. “Mental illnesses and their treatment can differ in different cultures”, he explains. “In the same time it is fascinating how many similarities you find between the cultures. For example the significance of the family here in Kosovo is very similar to Middle Eastern or Asian cultures. That is one reason why we put so much emphasis on including the families in the treatment of the prisoners. They play a very important role in Kosovo.”

Being a UNV fits perfectly in Dr. Britanico’s view of his profession. “I think to be a good psychiatrist you must not be interested in money. It is about helping people. That is why I became a UNV”, he says.

For more information please contact:

Angela Griep, UNV Public Information Officer, UNMIK, Email griep@un.org, or
Chrsitine Botejue-Kyle, UNV Programme Manager, UNMIK, Email botejue-kyle@un.org