AMECEA: Providing Spiritual and Psycho-social Services a Necessity Amid Pandemic, AMECEA Pastoral Coordinator
Fr. Emmanuel Chimombo, AMECEA Pastoral Coordinator
Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
A virtual program on counselling that was rolled out in the month of August within the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA) region in response to Covid-19, aimed at providing spiritual and psycho-social services to individuals who have been affected in various ways, has been evaluated as “a necessity” during this period of pandemic, AMECEA pastoral coordinator has shared with AMECEA Online.
The program’s overall goal of intervention is to provide a platform for the eight-member conferences within the region to communicate, to share experiences, to provide tool kits and resource material for psycho-social and pastoral care services to communities and individuals affected and infected by COVID-19.
“Spiritual support is a necessity amidst pandemic,” AMECEA Pastoral Coordinator Fr. Emmanuel Chimombo said in an interview, Thursday October 22, adding that “Most people never connected Covid-19 with psychological torture which can lead to worry, but through this program it has strongly come out that the pandemic brought anxiety.”
The guidelines issued by various States within the region to help contain the spread of Coronavirus including curfews, working from home, lockdown and keeping social distance among others have affected the social and spiritual lives of so many people in the society.
According to Fr. Chimombo, “We are social beings and isolation is not normal for us. The stringent measures issued by governments made people feel somehow ostracized. Therefore, the spiritual and psycho-social program is giving opportunity to people who are isolated and traumatized to find accompaniment and solace.”
Fr Chimombo acknowledged that through the program, bishops’ conferences realized that many people did not understand how far the impact of Covid-19 would go. Some had misconception about the pandemic while others simply did not know how to handle the situation.
The use of radio platform which was aimed at reaching the people in rural areas, Fr Chimombo narrated, “was an eye opener and it gave opportunity to people to ask questions and get professional responses.”
During the interview, Fr. Chimombo disclosed that a number of those who sought counseling services presented diverse issues from Covid-19 to family related concerns.
Besides, from the feedback and testimonies received from listeners Catholics, non-Catholics and priest explained, “AMECEA needs to work with conferences to establish or strengthen counseling programs in institutions of learning where a population of youths who have also been affected would easily be reached.”
Even though the program meant to inspire a faith action has reached thousands of people within the AMECEA region, financial challenges failed many poor vulnerable communities to access live radio calls and online counselling services while in some cases the counsellors were compelled to call back the counselee, which proved very costly on the individual counsellors’ part.
Additionally, the few radios selected limit the scope of reach while some conferences like Ethiopia do not even have a national Catholic radio station, and this hinders effective implementation of the project as designed.
Fr. Chimombo further noted, “There is need for creation of a counselling desk in conferences which is not necessarily for Covid-19 but to help the many people who are suffering silently and need psycho-social support.”
