Improving lives: A boxing club in Greenland helps fight the scourge of suicide

FOUR times a week, youngsters meet to box at a school gym in Nuuk, Greenland – a great way, they say, to blow off steam in a place with one of the world’s highest suicide rates.

Fight Club Nanoq is one of several initiatives designed to help young Greenlanders structure their lives and improve their mental and physical health.

Suicide, alcohol and drug abuse are the main problems of a huge Arctic land struggling with social problems and a painful colonial history.

After a half-hour warm-up, boxers set up small rings and begin sparring, with coaches regularly stopping to provide tips and instructions.

All three coaches complained that the youngsters had too much time on their hands, which increased their risk of getting into trouble.

Eighteen-year-old Emil Lehmann Faber disagrees, saying he took up boxing “to have something to do.”

In a school gym in Nuuk, about 20 young Greenlanders meet four times a week to box for some fresh air for their mental health in a territory with one of the highest suicide rates in the world.

Seven times the global average

Many of his classmates and friends have nothing to do, he said. “Maybe they turn to alcohol more easily or they just don’t do anything.”

According to the World Health Organization, there were 39 suicides in Greenland in 2023, almost 68 per 100,000 inhabitants – more than seven times the global average of nine. Only tiny Lesotho in southern Africa has a higher rate, at 87.5.

However, the number of suicides has fallen from a peak of 62 in 2010 as a result of concerted efforts by the authorities of the autonomous territory of Denmark.

At Fight Club Nanoq, about 20 boxers – a handful of whom are women – learn to take care of themselves.

“The most important thing is not to feel sorry for yourself,” said Efraim Olsen, a doctor who founded the club over 15 years ago and still boxes.

“You learn to deal with disappointment and not become a victim,” he added.

Lehmann Faber and Aputsiaq Didriksen, also 18, have boxed abroad for the club, an opportunity unthinkable for many Greenlanders their age.

“Many people struggle with a sense of hopelessness and lack of options for the future, which exacerbates mental health problems,” said Greenland’s Minister of Youth and Sports, Aqqaluaq Egede.

Coaches say they see a big change in young people when they start coming to the club.

“No Help”

“Their self-confidence and ability to cope with stress improve significantly,” Olsen said.

“Those who box here have a home, a job, a wife and children. They have never made a mistake,” insisted Mahmoud Minaei, another of the club’s founders.

They also learn discipline and respect, he added.

“They know how to be part of a group, follow the coach’s instructions and follow the rules of boxing,” Olsen said.

While coaches speak freely about mental health and suicide prevention, many young boxers, like boxer Aninnguaq Eigaard, fear the stigmatization of Greenland.

However, local authorities readily admit that suicide is a plague.

The national suicide prevention hotline Tusaannga “received approximately 600 contacts from people experiencing suicidal thoughts in 2023,” the minister said.

He added that the number of people considering taking their own lives is “certainly higher.”

Psychologist Maliina Lyberth said that “mental health difficulties are everywhere in this country.”

The Greenland government attributes this to factors such as loneliness, drug and alcohol addiction, violence and hereditary trauma.

Lyberth, who sees many of her patients online due to Greenland’s vast area of ​​2.2 million square kilometers, lamented the “lack of help available.”

In fact, the lack of resources angers her.

“We need better mental health projects or places to go when you need someone,” she said.

Accessibility, however, is not only a geographical issue, she argued.

“If someone is struggling with suicidal thoughts, they need to pay to get help,” she said. –AFP

People considering suicide can contact the Mental Health Psychosocial Support Service (03-2935 9935/014-322 3392); Talian Kasih (15999/ 019-261 5999 on WhatsApp); Jakima Family, Social and Community Care Center (011-1959 8214 on WhatsApp); or Befrienders Kuala Lumpur (03-7627 2929/email [email protected]/visit www.befrienders.org.my/centre-in-malaysia).