SUNDAY 5 MAY 2019 – UWI TODAY
13
SOCIAL WORK
“Social work”, a statement
from the University of Missouri’s
School of Social Work says, “is the heart and soul of the helping
profession”. In almost every sphere of social vulnerability - child
welfare, the elderly, criminal justice, domestic violence, family
services and on and on - social workers provide invaluable
support for individuals and communities. But who helps the
helpers?
The Social Work Unit within the Department of
Behavioural Sciences of the Faculty of Social Sciences at UWI
St Augustine has embarked on a unique initiative for just
such a purpose. This past March, three masters-level social
work students took part in a week-long student exchange at
Quinnipiac University (QU) in Connecticut, USA. And they
have returned revitalised, re-energised and ready to contribute
to the development of social work in T&T.
“I came back a different person,” says Mrs Rae Anne
Sammy, a senior social worker with the South West Regional
Health Authority (SWRHA) and one of the pioneers of the
profession. “Doing what I have done for the past 25 years I
was almost brought to tears at some points. Every day was
anticipating the unknown, not knowing what I was going to
see but excited.”
She adds, “Coming back home I know I have so much to
do (for the profession) and not much time left to do it.”
In general, social workers tend to be underpaid and
overworked. Speaking specifically about conditions in the UK
but mirroring conditions worldwide, Professor Ray Jones of
Kingston University was recently reported as saying “working
conditions for social workers (have) deteriorated, with bigger
caseloads, less support and inadequate pay”. The same could
be said for Trinidad and Tobago.
“Sometimes you feel like your ‘spinning top in mud’,”
says Aleisha Udit, a school social worker and one of the three
students who took part in the exchange. “It is one social worker
for six or seven schools. How does one of me deal with 98
cases a week?”
She is much more positive now: “At my church we have a
theme every year. This year’s was ‘thoroughly astounded and
completely overwhelmed by God’.That’s how this tripmade me
feel. It gives me hope for social work in Trinidad and Tobago.”
The student exchange was an initiative of Dr Camille
Huggins, Lecturer in the Social Work Unit of the Department
of Behavioural Sciences, working with Maya Doyle, Assistant
Professor of Social Work at QU. In February 2018, Professor
Doyle spent a week in Trinidad and toured the local welfare
agencies. The following March Dr Huggins and Dr Emmanuel
Janagan Johnson, Lecturer and Coordinator of the Social Work
Unit, did the same in Connecticut. March 2019 is the first time
social work students have taken part in the exchange, making it
the first time an initiative of this type - developing to developed
world social work student experience - has taken place.
The students, along with Dr Huggins and fellow lecturer
Dr Maria Gomes, had their air travel paid for through the
exchange initiative and were very warmly accommodated in
the homes of Quinnipiac social work faculty members. Their
activities included attending postgraduate-level classes at QU,
visiting private and public social welfare organisations and
institutions, and interacting with the society.
They observed up close the work of “Restoring Promise”,
a young adult reform initiative created by Alex Frank under
the Vera Institute of Justice (a prison reform organisation).
Through Restoring Promise they spoke with a prisoner who
is benefitting from the institute’s work. They visited Rushford,
a major mental health care institution, and observed a group
therapy session.
One of the major highlights of the student exchange was
the trip to the Department of Children and Families (DCF),
Connecticut’s state agency for family services. While there they
were able to sit down with the newly appointed commissioner
of the DCF, Vannessa Dorantes, herself a social worker.
Seeing a social worker in such a position of prominence
and responsibility gave the students a deeper understanding
of the potential of the profession.
“When I came to Trinidad to teach I realised that the social
workers here had an identity problem,” says Dr Huggins, who
is fromNewYork City in the US. “They didn’t understand their
capabilities. I wanted to bring them to the US to get a different
sense of what the profession could be.”
That goal has most certainly been achieved.
“We are prepared to do what we have to do to make a
difference,” says Beverly Ann OttleyMclean, a human resource
professional with the T&T Police Service. With a background
in theatre and dance, she was particularly impressed with the
use of art, colour and motivational messages at Connecticut’s
social welfare agencies. She was also impressed with the social
worker “mindset”.
She says, “they have a lot of obstacles, like us, but they
persevere. We have to put that mindset into play. We have
learned a lot through this scholarship and we are eager to go
out there and make a difference.”
Dr Maria Gomes is a Lecturer in the Social Work Unit of the Department of Behavioural Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences.
Dr Shelene Gomes is a Lecturer in the Sociology Unit of the Department of Behavioural Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences.
Pausing their packed daily schedule to enjoy a meal are (from left) Professor Doyle, Beverly Ann Ottley Mclean, Rae Anne Sammy,
Aleisha Udit, Dr Gomes and Dr Huggins.
SOCIALWORK STUDENTS REDISCOVER THEIR POTENTIAL
AND PASSION IN LANDMARK STUDY TRIP TO THE US
B Y J O E L H E N R Y
The Sociology and Social Work Units
of the Department
of Behavioural Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences have
collaborated to host a roundtable discussion, “Intimate
Labours: Women’s Experiences of Transnational Caregiving,”
on February 1, with “skilled” and “highly skilled” returnees to
Trinidad and Tobago who have chosen to fill the caregiving
needs of ageing parents. In telling their stories, participants
brought to life the intimate labours of care work, noting the
reproduction of systematic inequalities.
Globally, women continue to do disproportionately
more care work than men, which is persistently under-valued
economically and socially. Commonalities articulated include:
challenges of decision making with regards to livelihood
opportunities; securing care with its financial and emotional
implications; the gendered division of care work; complexities
of navigating public and private health care options; managing
and negotiating roles as daughter, worker, and returnee; coping
and time for personal care.
INTIMATE LABOURS: Women’s Experiences of Transnational Caregiving
B Y M A R I A G O M E S A N D S H E L E N E G O M E S
Participants and organisers agreed that conversations
around the power dynamics of the “private” sphere of the home
and such intimate labours need to be further explored with the
aim of providing support for caregivers as well as addressing
institutional failures. For instance, all speakers emphasised the
importance of family networks in successfully caring for parents
in the absence of a robust institutional framework and reliable
public health care facilities.
Members of the audience expressed interest by asking
questions and contributing to the discussion, demonstrating the
salience of this topic to many persons in Trinidad, across class,
place of residence, and ethnicity. The organisers are embarking
on a project with returning citizens to examine the gendered
dimensions of care work for ageing parents in Trinidad and
Tobago, and would like to deepen collaborations with staff and
students with overlapping interests.
From left: Jo-Anne Frederick, insurance consultant; Priya Gomes, occupational therapist; Dr Maria Gomes, lecturer in the Social Work Unit
and event chair; Josephine Learmond-Criqui, event manager; and Cynthia Carrington, Director of the J&C Recreation Centre.
