Social work news
Social work profs work to set up social work program in Liberia
A team of Calvin social work faculty has worked for five years to develop a bachelor of social work (BSW) program in Liberia: the first of its kind in a country ravaged by back-to-back civil wars. To build the BSW program, the Calvin professors partnered with the faculty at Mother Patern College of Health Sciences in Monrovia and social work professors Judi Meerman and Greg Scott from local Kuyper College. For the complete story, go to http://www.calvin.edu/news/archive/pioneering-social-work-in-liberia
Social work student becomes queen mother in Ghana village
Calvin social work student Rebecca Dyer was crowned as the "development queen mother" in Adenkrebi, Ghana, on Dec. 2, 2010. Go to pinkfmonlinegh.com for more details.
Melissa Stek helps families and children become literate together
Go to www.rapidgrowthmedia.com and read the "RapidBlog: Schools of Hope" article by Lindsay McHolme that talks about how Americorp member Melissa Stek is making a difference in the lives of students and their families at Burton Elementary.
Social work in Liberia
On Friday, Oct. 30, Professors Joe Kuilema and Rachecl Venema gave a presentation at the NACSW Conference in Indianapolis, IN, entitled "Generals to Generalists: Student Perceptions of Social Work in Liberia." They presented preliminary findings from their research on perceptions of the social work profession among the first indigenously educated cohort of social work students in Liberia. Both Kuilema and Venema had spent three weeks in Monrovia, Liberia in January 2009 co-teaching a community development course at Mother Patern College of Health Sciences.
The conference presentation gave a brief introduction to the history of Liberia, examining the role that the United States played in the formation of the country as well as the continuing effects14-year civil war still has on the country. In addition to this background information, the presentation examined student views on what social work is, what their role and interest in it are, and what sorts of unique issues social work can address in their country.
Conference attendees were particularly interested in how social work translates cross-culturally and internationally, as well as the extent to which violence against women was identified as a key issue by the students surveyed. Kuilema and Venema are planning to continue their research this January as part of the department's on-going partnership with the social work program at Mother Patern College of Health Sciences in Monrovia, Liberia.
