Several volunteers and staff of the Guyana Red Cross Society have successfully completed five days of training in psychosocial support which was facilitated by Coralee Cambridge.
At the closing session yesterday that was held at the Red Cross Headquarters in Eve Leary, several volunteers said that they plan to apply what they have learned in the training in their future work.
Cambridge, in an interview with Stabroek News, said that training came about after she had returned from a Master Training of Trainers workshop in Panama; part of her fulfilment of that course was that she would train volunteers and staff in psychosocial support.
She said psychosocial support was very important because often persons overlook the fact that the mental and social aspects of life are important.
She stated that psychosocial support did not only apply to persons in the community, but also volunteers and staff.
“Psychosocial support becomes necessary as a component for the staff and volunteers of the Red Cross to apply in their activities,” she said.
The feedback she said was overwhelming. “The volunteers and staff were yearning for this type of thing. They were eager to learn.”
Cambridge added that they are hoping to have another training session in six months to find out how the participants were coping with the new principles.
Director General of the Guyana Red Cross Society Dorothy Fraser said the intention was to have persons better equipped in psychosocial support so that they can deal with certain situations in the community and workplace.
“This training was to build team work, to know how to relate better to each other, to communicate better and to give support to those who are going through some process of difficulty,” she said.
Like Cambridge, she said the feedback from the participants was absolutely wonderful and that the participants have already asked for additional training and counselling.
The Guyana Red Cross Society is a humanitarian organisation that works to render assistance to thousands of Guyanese. The organisation deals with issues ranging from health to social issues. It is an affiliate of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Society.
