The impact of COVID,
not only on the individuals, but the communities and the country
actually put a spotlight on
mental health wellbeing because we had people who struggled
with the change from working in the office to starting to work at home.
And we also had people that were in isolation for weeks.
So I think COVID pushed it more towards the spotlight.
The Australian government has funded majority of Empower Pacific's projects
and that has enabled us to continue the work that we do.
Our counsellors are general counsellors, so they are able to address
a variety of issues.
They provide support for the hospital patients and their families,
whether it's coping with a major illness, providing support for grief and loss,
whether it's for a mother who has just lost a child or for family
who have just lost a family member that's in the hospital.
To prevent the hospital from becoming ground zero for a wider outbreak,
the members of our discipline
forces have locked down Lautoka Hospital in a matter of hours.
The Lautoka Hospital remains in lockdown
with 400 patients and staff quarantined inside.
The death of a patient and the infection of two doctors and a nurse
have sent ripples of anxiety through the wider community.
We were finishing our work
as normal as possible on that particular day
when we were going out with our bags and we were told, No, you cannot leave.
The anxiety was so high because all of a sudden
when we had a look outside,
there were police officers, there were military out there.
Whoever was there was supposed to just remain, stay put.
We returned to our office and now we are also afraid
maybe we have crossed somebody that was COVID positive
because it was very novel, like very new to us at that particular time.
I was in head office.
We looked at getting in touch with their families, ensuring that they got
the supplies that they needed in terms of their clothes and things like that.
We provided them with the food packs because we were not really sure
about the food situation in the hospital because normally
they would always have enough for the patients, you know, and then
but apart from the patients, there was a lot of hospital staff
and then other people as well that were caught in the hospital.
So within the few days there was nothing.
We were just in our rooms eating and sleeping
and we are still processing what was actually happening
and what could happen. Towards the end of one week into lockdown
there was a need for counselling support
to most of the patients and to some of the staff.
When we were told that there was need of our service
we got quite anxious because an outbreak is such a thing
we are not able to see, the threats out there.
We had concerns that the staff might get infected.
We were worried about the mental health and emotional wellbeing,
but at the same time we can't say no, we don't turn people away.
So when I had my first session into one of the wards
during this COVID lockdown, I was a bit anxious,
but I had to be very mindful of taking my worries and stress apart
in order to help the patients, because that was priority there.
To my surprise, towards the end of the session,
I realised I had a pretty good session with my client, so that motivated me.
Yes, I can do it and I can provide these services
despite my own fears and anxieties.
There was a lady.
She was a non-COVID patient who became my client.
She was quite elderly.
She was told on the day of lockdown that she was supposed to be going home.
She did not understand what was happening.
She was one of my everyday patients
that I used to go and visit during my lockdown.
Unfortunately, she passed away.
She is somebody that is going to be, in my mind, despite
providing all that support and assurance and then passing away in a lockdown
from non-COVID that is something very difficult to
digest and get over it.
Sometimes it's very
hard to get those clients off the mind,
but I use the support of my pets, which I love,
just to spend the time with them so that I can feel okay.
And then I spend some quality time with my boys as well.
The impact of COVID was something that nobody expected here in Fiji.
In 2020, we initiated our 24/7
counselling helpline, which actually widened our scope.
The highlight for me is
when I start talking to the person that is stressed or worried
in the end of the conversation, he or she is able to smile with me
like, you know, they do feel that satisfaction, okay.
They feel they have offloaded the stress just by me providing that space
so that they can talk openly about whatever is affecting them emotionally.