Dear Editor,

I am currently pursuing studies in social work and I have come to the realisation that this career choice has not been getting the proper recognition it deserves here in Jamaica. There are so many people who have contributed significantly and there are still many doing so.

The decision to study social work has been a great one, knowing that I will be helping those who are unable to function normally and who might have believed that they aren’t able to get a second chance of having a normal life.

Social workers have big gaps to fill in society as there are many broken homes in Jamaica. There are so many who need help emotionally, spiritually, sexually, physically and they need help to be able to function within their communities, workplace and schools. If individuals had someone confidential to share their issues with, and having the confidence that there could be hope for them or their loved ones, instead of turning to violence or abuse of each other, what a wonderful place this would be.

Many of those who need this help are not aware of the services provided by social workers. That is why there are so many issues facing us as a nation, which contributes to us not being able to move forward as positively as we should. The powers that be should see to it that social workers are assigned to every household, whether the family or the individual is able to function normally or not.

Jamaica, we all need to start recognising how important social work is to a country, communities, schools, workplaces, and homes.

Keisha Marie Rhoden

kmrhoden52@gmail.com