Auma

Auma

Rita

Rih

I’m a lawyer with 10 years of experience and a mental health advocate for over 5 years, passionate about storytelling, healing and inclusion. My work sits at the intersection of lived experience, law and advocacy creating bridges between policy, research, and the real stories that shape mental health in our communities. Currently, I serve as a Consultant on the Digitising Psychosis Project with Butabika Hospital (2024–present), where I provide experiential, legal and advocacy insight to ensure that research processes are ethical and inclusive. I also sit on the Butabika Hospital Research and Ethics Committee (2024–2026), contributing to the development of ethical and lived-experience-informed mental health research in Uganda. As the author of Dear Me and Dear Us — two celebrated Ugandan titles — I use storytelling as a tool for healing and connection, exploring themes of mental health, resilience and self-compassion. I’m the founder and lead of Heart to Heart Spaces for the last 5 years, a mental health community dedicated to creating safe, supportive, and stigma-free environments where people can navigate their mental wellness with empathy and courage. Through advocacy, education, and empowerment, we host workshops, dialogues, support groups and community initiatives that center healing and inclusion. In 2019 and 2025, I organized Uganda’s first Mental Health Run, bringing together hundreds of individuals, professionals, policymakers and organizations to promote awareness, community and collective healing.