PSYCHOLSOCIAL COUNELLING BEGINS IN GRAND CAPE MOUNT FOR EBOLA VICTIMS AND SURVIVORS

BY: IBRAHIM M. SESAY

Tewor District, Grand Cape Mount County – A local civil society organization, the District Platform for Dialogue (DPD) has begun a psychosocial counseling for communities in Tewor District, Grand Cape Mounty. Speaking to Local voices in Tienii Town, the executive director of the DPD, Melvin Kamara said the initiative is an eighteen month project that is aimed at uniting communities, providing hope, and reassuring survivors and community residents as well as victims of Ebola in the district.
Kamara stressed that the District Platform for Dialogue has closely observed that some of the problems facing communities and family member in Grand Cape Mount County in post Ebola Liberia is hatred, grief and stigmatization. Mr. Kamara pointed out that during the outbreak of the Ebola Virus in Liberia there were people who isolated their family most especially those families that had someone that was tested positive of having the Virus. He further said similar situation also applies to communities that reported positive cases of Ebola. This, he said, has brought tension among the people.
‘’During the Ebola outbreak, family was stigmatized and community was stigmatize and so they have this conflict existing among themselves,” Kamara said.
He mentioned that his organization has completed the identification of potential conflict areas in Tewor District adding that the surest way to remedy the conflicts is community engagement through dialogue. Mr. Kamara noted that though the project is presently focused in the Tewor District area, they are anticipating extending it to other districts of the county.
According to DPD Director, the project is being held under the theme Ebola Driven Conflict and it is taken place in the three Mano River Union countries: Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone.
He disclosed that the project is also taken place in Lofa, Nimba and Grand Gedeh Counties and is funded by a non-governmental organization call IREED formerly named Liberia Democratic Institute LMDI.