Social Work in an African Context
We are fortunate because here in North America we have a very well developed and responsive system of social services. Those of us in NACSW have dedicated our lives to helping others in a variety of ways and contexts and we are proud to be part of the profession of social work. In other parts of the world the system is not as well developed, and the context in which social work is practiced can be much different. I’d like to share one perspective from an African context.
I have had the privilege of working for an organization that is very much on the front lines of ministry throughout the world. I.N. Network USA operates in 36 countries around the world and engages in a variety of activities – planting churches among the poorest of the poor, providing sponsorships for children so that they can have access to schooling and adequate health care, providing care for orphans who have lost parents to HIV/AIDS, and not least – negotiating the release of women and girls who have been enslaved by tribal fetish priests in rural Ghana.
I’d like to share about a practice that is still occurring in Ghana – it’s called “Trokosi”, which means “wives of the gods” or “slaves of the gods” (depending on one’s perspective), and it is a ritual that has been practiced for centuries, particularly in sections of rural Ghana, Togo and Benin. This practice transcends national boundaries and is officially against the law in Ghana, but the government is often powerless to enforce appropriate sanctions to protect these African women. Essentially, the practice is part of the criminal justice system of the villages in the region. An aggrieved person reports a crime or offense to the shrine priest, who is asked to punish the guilty party’s family with mysterious deaths and diseases. The family, in turn, is forced to offer a young virgin to stop the curses believed to be caused by the fetish gods. During the humiliating initiation ceremony, the new slave is stripped of most of her clothing and is paraded through her village. She has now become of “wife of the gods” and must appease them by serving the priest in any manner that he dictates. Many of these girls remain in the shrine for life.
I.N. Network Ghana (a partner organization of I.N. Network USA) was invited 10 years ago by the government of Ghana to initiate a negotiated release of the women and girls who have been enslaved. I.N. Network Ghana has been working in collaboration with the Ghanaian government, the Australian government, the United Nations and churches from throughout the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain to bring about the release of women and children and to put an end to this practice. Over the past 10 years, approximately 31 shrines have stopped this practice because of the efforts of I.N. Network Ghana, and over 3,500 women have been freed. But there are still an estimated 2000 more girls and women in bondage, not including their approximately 8,000 children who were fathered by the priests and who are also subjected to a life of captivity and abuse. It is in the midst of this oppressive
environment that I.N. Network Ghana staff like Ms. Patience Vormawor seek to help the women and children who have been released to rebuild their shattered lives and begin to live with a sense of hope. It is my hope that at an NACSW conference in the near future that we can have Patience lead a workshop and share more of her story and how she engages in social work within this difficult context.
I have often been amazed by the work that Patience does and know that a social worker from North America could probably not do the work that she does – not because they are not skilled or don’t have the proper training, but because they simply are not Ghanaian. Patience’s preparation for her work cannot be separated from the fact that she was reared in the Volta region and has seen the Trokosi practice from the perspective of one who has been affected by it.
I share this story because I will be leaving I.N. Network in the near future (as you read this I will have begun my new job as Executive Director of the Ottawa County Michigan Works/Community Action Agency). It has been a privilege to work with people like Patience and to be able to see how she has sacrificed in order to serve the “least of these”. Again, my hope is that Patience will be able to come to a NACSW conference in then near future to share more of her story. Social work is practiced in many settings and we are enriched by our brothers and sisters around the world who are working in much different circumstances
Bill Raymond
Board President
On the Great Divide
“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Mt. 7:13-14 NRSV).
While visiting a church on a recent Sunday, I stepped into the adult Sunday School classroom and entered a delightful discussion about the meaning of the above text. The teacher only cautioned that the readers consider the passage in its contexts—literary, historical, cultural, even theological. Some shared their struggles with rigid teachings in their past on the “plan of salvation” and the inevitable debates on who was in and who was out. Finally, one woman shared her view that this passage seems to be a summary of all the teaching that comes before it in the Sermon on the Mount. Many in the class nodded as they considered her words. I wanted to cheer, because her words echoed those of Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his classic work, The Cost of Discipleship. That’s pretty good company. The following words are found in the section entitled “The Great Divide”:
“A little band of (people), the followers of Christ, are separated from the rest of the world. The disciples are few in number, and will always be few. This saying of Jesus forestalls all exaggerated hopes of success. Never let a disciple of Jesus pin his hopes on large numbers. ‘Few there be . . .’ If we behold Jesus Christ going on before step by step, we shall not go astray. But if we worry about the dangers that beset us, if we gaze at the road instead of at him who goes before, we are already straying from the path. For he is himself the way, the narrow way and the strait gate . . .” --Bonhoeffer, Dietrich (1937), The Cost of Discipleship.
Forgive me for engaging in some cheerleading. The words of Bonhoeffer and the woman in Bible class make me think of our vocation as Christians in social work. It seems to me that Christians in social work are on a narrow way. If those who are poor, those who mourn, and those who are meek are blessed, surely others who encourage and empower them are blessed as well. Do you want to find those who are merciful and peacemakers? Those who reflect the light of the world? Those who are slow to anger and slow to judge others? Those who are true to their word? Those who find value in others with whom they differ, even the enemy? Do you want to find those who give generously while expecting nothing in return? Those who practice their spiritual disciplines in secret? Do you want to rub shoulders with those who find the cost of living rising faster than their salary increases, who therefore have difficulty even thinking about storing up treasures on earth? You have come to the right place. At least I hope so.
As Jesus turned his face toward the cross, Thomas wondered aloud that he and his friends did not know where Jesus was going and therefore could not know the way. That’s when Jesus explained that He was the way. As we proceed along the paths of our vocation, may we look more to Him who has gone before us and less to the dangers of the road.
David Fritz
Catalyst Writer
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