Various board members at the Badisa programmes provided feedback on how they have handled the Covid-19 pandemic. Together, this paints a picture of care and humanity during very challenging times.
Koue Bokkeveld: We need to rebuild our sense of community
Written by Rev Alex Clarke, chairperson of Badisa Koue Bokkeveld
As chairperson of Badisa Koue Bokkeveld I want to distinguish between the economic and social impact of the pandemic in our area.
The economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on our rural environment has been insignificant because the agricultural sector was mostly allowed to continue with work and production without any interruption. Employers and employees were responsible for keeping themselves as well as their work teams safe. At the start of the pandemic in March 2020 we jointly accepted and shared this responsibility. The employers went out of their way to help their employees buy food supplies and to help limit movement. As in the case of various other people, a high degree of pandemic exhaustion was felt at the end of the harvest season in 2021. Everybody realised that we had to stay healthy in order to protect each other’s work.
On a social level, the ban on alcohol sales resulted in fewer incidences of violence, with family violence showing a significant drop. Our area has various active rugby and soccer leagues. The ban on social gatherings such as church services and sports events had a negative impact on the sense of community in our area as people were allowed to work together but not to socialise together.
Our challenge will be to build a new sense of community, and we will have to come up with creative ways to get people from outside the workplace to socialise again.
Providing Child Protection Services Despite the Covid Barrier
Covid-19 saw our world come to a standstill on a scale that most people have never seen before. But in the stillness and hidden corners of isolation, the abuse and neglect of children never went into lockdown. In fact, the loss of eyes and ears to report offences against children placed these children at greater risk than ever before. The loss of feeding schemes at Early Childhood Development centres, schools and after-care programmes saw many children lose their only hope of a daily meal. Covid-19 saw the increase of atrocities against children. The vulnerability of not only children but at-risk families increased as Covid-19 infections and restrictions rose.
Social work is a hands-on profession. It relies on interaction. The power of social work lies in the nature of relationships. There are no machines, electronic tools or mechanisms that can do this work; social workers are the tools effectuating social change and the protection of children. Covid-19 and the nationwide lockdown and restrictions hit social workers with a twofold blow: It inhibited in-person service delivery as we know it while increasing vulnerability and need. Suddenly, without any preparation, social workers were faced with the challenge of rendering an essential service in uncharted territory.
One of the biggest challenges that social workers have had to face during the pandemic is to engage with an often terrified or sick child while wearing a mask and maintaining distance. A scared or sick child often “clings” to the person coming to their aid. All these natural responses and measures to support children are suddenly placing both the social worker and the child at risk. Forming an empathic connection with a vulnerable child behind a mask and face shield is extremely difficult. Social workers are working very hard to overcome these barriers while entering some of the scariest and darkest places in our clients’ psyches.
Leonard Cohen’s song “The Anthem” has a line that describes our services: “There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.” Badisa’s child protection services continued despite Covid. It is only through bravery, commitment and perseverance that our social service professionals can crack through the Covid barrier and shine light on the pitch-black darkness of child abuse and neglect.
| Malnutrition – “slow violence” against children According to Dr Lawrence Haddad (Child Gauge, 2020), malnutrition in children is described as “slow violence”. He explained that it would take a powerful malevolent force to inflict havoc on a child the way that malnutrition does. It systematically destroys a child. It damages their chances of survival, their cognitive development, immune system, bone and muscle structure, and their livelihood prospects. However, malnutrition and the effects thereof can be prevented. Covid-19 is going to make it harder but even more important to intervene. “We must deny Covid-19 the legacy of a generation of children whose lives and livelihoods have been undercut irreversibly by the infection and a lack of effort to control the spread.” |
