Social Workers testimonies during graduation highlight the importance of Social Work
Four out of 23 graduating social workers have elaborated the benefits of the training from the Centre for Clinical Pastoral Education and Social Services (CECPES) of the CBC Health Services. Their joyful testimonies came during the graduation ceremony of the 2024 batch of Social Workers that took place at the Directorate of the CBC Health Services in Bamenda on November 09.
Dubbed the “Inclusive Batch”, Precious Noh Jick who studied with visual impairment enumerated the great knowledge imparted on her by the school. Precious has horned her skills in social work and also built her career as a disability rights advocate through social work. In her presentation titled “Empowering Inclusive Social Work: Breaking Limits, Embracing Diversity”, Precious has this to say:
“As a visually impaired student from the 2024 batch of the Center for Clinical Pastoral Education, my journey has been transformative. Navigating challenges and overcoming obstacles has taught me valuable lessons. I’ve learned to blend theory with practical experience, fostering a deep understanding of social work’s potential.
Inclusive social work is crucial, especially for vulnerable populations. Persons with disabilities, minority groups, and marginalized communities often rely on social services. However, I firmly believe that these individuals should not only receive support but also be empowered to become social workers themselves.
By training vulnerable populations as social workers: Dependency decreases, Empowerment increases, Unique perspectives are brought to the field, Communities become more resilient.
As a visually impaired social work student, I’ve experienced the power of inclusion firsthand. I’ve broken limits, challenged stereotypes, and discovered my potential.
Together, we can: Amplify marginalized voices, Foster inclusive communities, Empower vulnerable populations, and Create a more just society.” Precious used the occasion to advocate for more people with disabilities to use this unique opportunity to become social workers.
Presenting on “SOCIAL WORK TRAINING AND SELF WORK”, Geraldine Assingwe a retired teacher and the most senior graduate rejoiced at what she learned. “Social work seeks to improve the lives of others and help them cope with issues affecting their lives. I had the opportunity to sit under the feet of our facilitators who trained us to become social workers. Top on the agenda of this training was helping us work on ourselves first, improving on ourselves. Helping us to know who we are and how to be better versions of ourselves. How to live in the society and help others and work towards self-improvement. Social work training has enabled me to know my Temperament, my Personality Disorders, Theological world view, as well as working on them. Social work training has facilitated my growth in the following domains: Being able to handle issues l am struggling with, know my needs hierarchically, Communicate well with others. understanding what communication is all about, Practice habits that help increase my lifespan, Understand that death is sure and prepare for it, Taking care of my mental health by promoting it and preventing mental illnesses, Coping with stressful situations, preventing depression and trauma, Identifying my strengths and weaknesses and working on them, Receiving feedback and working on them, It has increased my level of resilience, Helped me to reshape my to make it better, and Given me the zeal to improve my community.
To Pokam Miriam who presented on Social Workers and professional competence, she notes “the training helped me to gain knowledge, skills, values and critical thinking. As a social worker, knowledge is paramount to effective practice. It empowered me as a social work practitioner to understand the complexities of human behavior, social systems, and cultural contexts, enabling me make informed decisions and intervention. As a social work practitioner, possessing key skills has been crucial for effective practice. These include core skills like communication, empathy, assessment, intervention, and documentation etc. I learned that core values guide ethical and compassionate practice. These values include respecting clients of all ages, promoting human rights, and empowering vulnerable populations etc. Finally, critical thinking was and is essential for effective practice. It enabled me to analyze complex situations, evaluate evidence, and make informed decisions. By applying critical thinking, I could: Assess situations objectively, identify potential interventions, address power imbalances and systemic injustices, and develop innovative solutions”.
In his presentation on SOCIAL WORK AND FIELD EXPERIENCE by Ngala Ngwani Wirnyu Junior, he acknowledges that while on training, “I realized that social work and field experience are intricately intertwined, with field experience being the cornerstone of social work profession. Field experience is where theory meets practice, shaping skills, knowledge, and values of social work. While on training, I realized that field experience as a core component in social work had to do with 3 things namely; Education, learning by doing and the Foundation for practice”
The graduates presented their testimonies to the amazement of representatives from the CBC, CBC Health Services, the Divisional Delegations of Social Affairs and that for Women’s Empowerment and the Family, invited guests and batch mates. The value placed by the students in the knowledge they depart with to render services in the community is enough assurance for everyone that studying in CECPES is an opportunity to change your life and use it to change others who are highly in need of social services.
