In the early 2000s, when there were just two psychiatrists serving over 12 million people, Zimbabwe had to get creative to treat depression. Now, one bright idea — the Friendship Bench — is spreading far and wide.

Dixon Chibanda spent more time with Erica than most of his other patients. It wasn’t that her problems were more serious than others’ — she was just one of thousands of women in their mid-20s with depression in Zimbabwe. It was because she had traveled over 160 miles to meet him.  more