As the fight continues to flatten the curve to curtail the spread of COVID-19, the Ministry of Social Welfare, together with Plan International Sierra Leone, ended a two-day interactive training on Psychological First Aid (PFA) at the Social Welfare Conference Hall in Kailahun District.
The training started with a welcoming address lead by the District Social Services Officer (SSO), Mr Samuel Kamara; he heartily encouraged all the facilitators and the general participants for their efforts to attend such a timely training in an unprecedented moment in combating the spread of the hobo virus.
Alternatively, Ms Pauliana H.Kobby, who is one of the senior staff from Plan International Sierra Leone, also hammered the purpose of the training and thanked all for coming.
According to her, Plan International, with other partners, decided to organize the PFA in order to help children and women that have been gravely affected by the spread of the virus in unique ways.
Additionally, she emphasized very few organization have been in the frontline in providing Psychological support for those who are in quarantined homes; therefore, Plan with other partners, saw this gap, and have decided to step in. What a timely training as many of the participants mentioned!
During the first day, sensitive modules were presented were 20 participants from different CBOs and decision makers were present.
All the sessions were greatly participatory because most of the faces who attended the training had knowledge of PFA that was organized during the EBOLA crisis.
Most importantly, on the last day of the two-day training, some of the modules treated were dramatized by the participants; how wonderful it was to see the participants to do role-play in dramatizing some of the concepts of the different modules! Such a staged drama shows they have understood the content of the PFA Manual!
Again, pressing issues were also discussed which remains to be hitting women and children largely in some of these communities these attendees came from.
In summary, meaningful interactive secessions like stress, stigmatization, Gender-Based Violence, Prevention and Safety First, and grief were invaluable topics that the training was concluded with.
However, the training ended successfully on the 26th June 2020 with the presence of the town chief, Inter-religious Council Representative, Child Welfare Committee Chairperson, the District Mental Health Focal person, District Social welfare staff, and some social workers from the different chiefdom headquarter towns were present.