Alina Rosenkranz |
Concerns about Ebola have put UP’s social work practicum in Ghana on hold indefinitely. In August, as the outbreak in some Western African countries escalated, administrators canceled the program for the current semester.
“With the risk of Ebola uncertain, and because the University did not have the resources on the ground in Ghana to be able to adequately respond to a potential emergency, the University decided to cancel the social work practicum experience in Ghana for fall 2014,” Provost Thomas Greene said in an email. “Any decision to cancel a program is based on ensuring the health, safety, and well being of students. Such decisions are made on a case-by-case bases after careful consideration of all available information.”
According to the World Health Organization, as of Aug. 28 there were 1,552 deaths due to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
The number of deaths continues to increase in three heavily impacted countries: Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4,941 people have died in countries with widespread transmission.
Ghana does not share a border with any country with high Ebola infection counts and has no known cases of Ebola.
“The [social work] program and I had no say in whether to cancel the program due to Ebola concerns,” social work professor Kevin Jones said. He met with the administration to tell them more about the program so they could make an informed decision.
Junior Rebecca Tabor, the only student who planned to go on the practicum to Ghana this semester, declined to be interviewed.
The social work practicum to Ghana first started in fall 2013 with four UP students spending a semester abroad. They volunteered in Accra, the capital city, at a hospital and two orphanages. Alina Rosenkranz is a reporter for The Beacon. She can be reached at rosenkra17@up.edu.
