A total of 587 Fijians sought the services of Empower Pacific in June alone. Chief executive officer Patrick Morgam said the calls were mainly from Fijians who needed psychological and mental health support.
“In May this year, we received 314 calls from people who needed our support as we understand there is a greater need for basic needs,” he said.
“People also request for food assistance and we refer them to our partners or other organisations that are providing support in such areas.
“Calls have increased, and we have noted the increase in calls from April, at the beginning of April the calls were very low until the second wave hit in mid-April and the numbers just kept growing so we do our very best to ensure these calls are attended to.”
Mr Morgam said since the second wave started, Empower Pacific counsellors had attended to counselling requests from 20 Fijians who were tested positive for COVID-19.
“At the beginning of the second wave, we had 178 calls from people in quarantine who were provided telephone counselling.
“Some had one session, while some had multiple counselling sessions while in quarantine. It depends on doctors and nurses where they see the need for counselling support, then they will refer to us.
“We are not encouraging face-to-face counselling during this time because of the situation so we have started using telephones and other communication platforms to reach out to those in need of our services.”
Mr Morgam said those in quarantine facilities faced several socioeconomic issues they had to deal with while away from home.
He said some called the organisation to check on their families while a few also called to request them to assist their families with basic food items and needs.
Mr Morgam said there were many social issues arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic which had left so many people worried.
