Markham Stouffville Hospital climbs Mount Kilimanjaro to combat Mental Health Stigma

Markham Stouffville Hospital climbs Mount Kilimanjaro to combat Mental Health Stigma

Climb to Conquer team members speak about their experience during Mental Health awareness week

(In photo: From left to right: Shiyam Loganathan, 4th year Medical Student, Margaret Mackie, RN at Markham Stouffville Hospital, Allan Bell, Director, Corporate Sponsorship and Special Events for Markham Stouffville Hospital, Venetia Wijayakumar, 4th year Medical Student.)

An interview on Friday, Oct 7th by two final year medical students Shiyam Loganathan and Venetia Wijayakumar was held to promote awareness for Mental Illness among youth. Margaret Mackie, RN with Markham Stouffville Hospital and Allan Bell, Director of Corporate Sponsorship and Special Events for Markham Stouffville Hospital sat with the two students.

Both final year medical students are Canadian citizens, currently attached to a hospital in Chicago for their clinical training and are in Toronto for the holidays and volunteered to do this interview. They were representing Monsoon Journal, a South Asian monthly English newspaper, Thai Veedu, a leading monthly Tamil newspaper, TamilOne TV, a 24 hour Rogers tv channel which can be viewed on channel 868, and Tamil Biz Connections, an online business media connecting the tamil business community.

As you may know there are approximately 300, 000 Tamil Canadians within the GTA, with a number of them living in the Markham and Stouffville area. The Markham-Stouffville hospital has been the primary hospital for the residents of the area for a number of years.

With the variety of initiatives Markham Stouffville Hospital has undertaken, it is the duty of the media to bring awareness of these noble activities to the community.

From July 9 to July 21, a total of 18, including Markham Stouffville physicians and staff, climbed the 19,000 foot Mount Kilimanjaro in the nation of Tanzania for the Climb to Conquer Campaign to combat the Stigma of Child and Adolescent Mental Illness.

The team successfully completed this arduous journey with the goal of reaching more than $500, 000 in support of patients and families struggling with mental illness.

They spoke about why they chose to support Child and Adolescent Mental Health Issues and the inspiration that led to their decision to Climb Mount Kilimanjaro, fourth largest peak in the world.

For those in the Tamil community who would like to continue to support the Markham Stouffville Hospital's endeavor to help those suffering from mental illness, can visit their website and donate.

www.climbtoconquer.mshf.on.ca

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• Markham Stouffville Hospital
• Mental Health Stigma
• Shiyam Loganathan
• Venetia Wijayakumar
• Margaret Mackie