Social workers in Malawi have been urged to connect with communities to ensure the effectiveness of their services.
Speaking at the commemoration of World Social Work Day on Tuesday this week, Vice Chancellor of the Catholic University of Malawi, Associate Professor Ngeyi Ruth Kanyongolo, expressed the need for social workers to connect with the community.
“Social work is about connecting with the community, and therefore our students and lecturers organised this walk to the village to talk about social development, the importance of service, the importance of thinking about the needs of the community, and being responsive to the needs of the community,” said Kanyongolo.
She then disclosed the need for people to recognise the suffering of other people and be responsive and caring to their suffering in various communities in the country.
Group Village Njelemba in Chiradzulu commended the Catholic University of Malawi for commemorating World Social Work Day in his area, saying the people have benefited from the awareness.
“We have seen that they brought with them various speakers that have talked to us on different topics on matters that affect our lives, and we are happy that this meeting has been an eye-opener for us on human rights issues and gender-based violence issues, just to mention some,” said Group Village Njelemba.
He then applauded the students from the university for the donation presented to his community members, saying the gesture demonstrated the spirit of caring for the people in need.
Every year, World Social Work Day is celebrated across the world on the third Tuesday ofMarch, and this year the commemoration was held on March 19. Social work students from the Catholic University of Malawi commemorated the day with a big walk that started from the university’s main campus to Njelemba Villlage, where they had an awareness talk and donated assorted items.
This year’s celebrations were being held under the theme Shared Future for Transformative Change.
The Catholic University of Malawi is one of the universities in Malawi that offers a degree in social work.