The Foreign Service Journal, December 2015

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | DECEMBER 2015 29 prevent the travel of the candidates we selected for participa- tion. The regime had an array of tools to prevent this, includ- ing exit visa restrictions, harassment and imprisonment. U.S. Information Service staff administering the program neverthe- less made travel arrangements, banking on the regime “blink- ing” rather than risking further international isolation. Apartheid had a negative effect on all of South Africa’s social and ethnic groups (including its supposed beneficia- ries), though some suffered more than others. From my point of view, U.S. soft power diplomacy helped the country in the long term, by empowering future leaders and tempering the perceptions of its past and present. When change took root in South Africa, especially after Nelson Mandela’s release from prison in 1990, cadres had already been formed and were ready to take up the political, economic and social direction of the country. My South Africa experience led me to write Outsmarting Apartheid (2014), which offers 40 first-hand accounts from beneficiaries and administrators of IVLP. Their stories con- tinue to inspire me, now as then, in the same way the invitees were moved to do great things upon visiting the United States for the first time. Dan Whitman is a professor at American University in Washington, D.C. He was a career Foreign Service officer whose posts included Haiti and Cameroon, where he served as public affairs officer. Building Support for Mental Health Care in South Africa BY GITA HARIE I t may be my imagination, but when I meet people abroad, and I tell them I’m from South Africa, I feel they see me as an unofficial representative of the “rainbow nation.” World opin- ion associates my country with the peaceful transition from apartheid, a successful World Cup soccer tournament in 2010 and, of course, Nelson Mandela. Still, while South Africa has seen profound and positive change over the past three decades, all of us accept that we have a long way to go. I see the challenges every day in my job as executive director of Durban and Coastal Mental Health, my country’s largest mental health organization. We have 25 proj- ects underway: seven residential care centers, eight protective training workshops, eight day care centers and two social work regions. During the last fiscal year we had 56,021 clients. I’m very grateful to the managers of the fantastic Interna- tional Visitor Leadership Program for helping me confront my challenges head-on. My participation in the program contrib- uted tremendously to my professional and personal develop- ment, inspiring and motivating me to direct mental health services in South Africa to greater heights. I can trace a lot of what I have accomplished to my experi- ence in 1998, the year I visited the United States. I met a lot of first-rate practitioners during my visit. On return, I initi- ated the Service User Empowerment Program, which Durban and Coastal Mental Health uses to empower its clients with self-advocacy skills. I also began a jobs training program for individuals with mental health issues. Finally, I committed my organization to entrench itself in rural South Africa, an area long in need of mental health support. Earlier this year, the IVLP invited me back to the United States as a Gold Star alumna to discuss what I had achieved since my first visit 17 years ago. I visited six American states, holding symposia with policymakers, students, mental health practitioners, academics and patients. I also had the privilege of meeting volunteers and “typical” U.S. citizens. Families invited me for dinner, including one that gave me four days of “home hospitality” in Montana. I’ve learned a lot about America, its families and its approach to mental health. Obtaining outside perspectives on one’s chosen course of study is invaluable and serves as a counterweight to the tendency to resist change. I am continu- ing to analyze what I’ve experienced, with the goal of deter- mining how my practice can adapt America’s best practices models. I also gained a perspective on the United States that dif- fered markedly from the way the country is often portrayed in films and other media. Aside from the hospitality and the profound professional experiences I had in America, I learned that yours is a “rainbow country,” too. The author is the executive director of Durban and Coastal Mental Health in South Africa.