By Mabinty M. Kamara
In celebration of the 2020 World Social Work Day (WSWD), Social Workers Sierra Leone (SWSL), in collaboration with the Social Work Society of Fourah Bay College, this week marched along major streets of Freetown to raise awareness about the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.
The street parade, which was held on Tuesday 17th March, was meant to compliment the Government of Sierra Leone’s effort to prevent the virus from entering the country.
SWSL is a group of volunteer social workers who came together to promote the profession in the country. They provide volunteer services to needy communities.
“As a humanitarian profession, this task falls under our mandate and we deem it prudent to intervene using social work approaches,” said Hassan Koroma, National Coordinator of SWSL.
Koroma told Politico that as an institution, they should have long intervened right from when the government established an isolation center at the Lungi International Airport. He said their services were needed in the form of psychosocial support to those under quarantine, to ensure that they are mentally stable and confident about the rationale behind the move. The SWSL coordinator added that they couldn’t do all that due to lack of resources.
The government’s approach to the quarantine process had been marred by controversies, amidst complaints that the facilities used as isolation centers are largely in poor condition. Koroma said they people under quarantine will need counselling to help them go through the process smoothly.
“The country still has zero case. To maintain this, as social workers, promoting the wellbeing of people and the state is crucial to us and we consider it mandatory,” he said.
In keeping with this year's WSWD theme of ‘Promoting the Importance of Human Relation’, Koroma said they had been engaging community people, especially in slums, to showcase the power of relationship to beat COVID-19. He from conversations they have had with community people, they found out that there were a lot of myths and misconceptions surrounding the coronavirus. He recalled someone saying that the virus was the result of rivalry between China and the United States.
Koroma also observed the absence of hand washing points in many of the communities they covered.
Erica Konneh, a volunteer with SWSL and a student of Fourah Bay College, explained that in relation to their role as social workers, they currently run a homeless feeding program every Sunday which caters for people with mental health issues and the homeless, with the goal of protecting their dignity and reduce their suffering.
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