Members of Social Work Sierra Leone (SWSL), a community-based organisation, have hosted Sierra Leone’s first Social Work month celebration.
The occasion, held every March, is geared towards recognising those who have offered timeless efforts to social work globally.
This year’s global team is: “Social Work: Forging Solutions Out of Challenges.”
But SWSL carved its own theme: “Time for reflection in social work education and practice.”
At an event held at the Milton Margai College of Technology campus in Godrich, west end of Freetown, Hassan Koroma, National Coordinator of SWSL, said the relevance of the celebration was to recognise the “priceless effort” and hard work of social workers who had sacrificed their lives to address issues affecting the less privileged and other vulnerable people in communities across the world.
He said the job of social workers was very important in any country because they help to save lives and build communities across the world through psycho-social healing, advocacy and development of policies that have positive impact on the lives of affected people.
Koroma said the Social Workers’ Month was celebrated the world over since 1965, but he noted that it was the first time the event was celebrated in Sierra Leone.
“It’s a day set aside to acknowledge our services and time, and to motivate us the social workers to feel proud,” he stated. He added that even though the Social Work profession was complementing the effort of government in Sierra Leone, yet it was not attractive as compared to other jobs in the country. He said this has contributed to the failure of society to hold the profession to a high esteem.
Social Workers Sierra Leone was founded by Koroma, a graduate of the Social Work Department of the Milton Margai College of Technology, in 2012. It has undertaken initiatives at grassroots level including sensitizing families on the need to educate their children. The organization was at the forefront of sensitization campaigns during the Ebola epidemic, mainly with funds generated from individual pockets and occasionally from donor support.
Koroma, at last week’s programme, called on the government of Sierra Leone to collaborate with his organization and promote the profession in the country.
Alice Ngauja, a social worker volunteer and member of SWSL, said there was a need for the government to provide jobs for social workers to help address the challenging issues affecting poor and vulnerable people who have suffered the brunt of both the 1991-2002 civil war and the Ebola outbreak.
(C) Politico 15/03/16
