Covid-19 changed everything but lost

Some participants at the learning event doing group exercises.

The Grantees’ third learning and reflection event was going to be held in-person from 28 – 30 June 2022 with every participant attending from the Northern, Upper East, Volta, Ashanti, and Greater Accra regions. The planning had progressed well but less than a week to the event, everything changed.

We did not anticipate a visit from Covid-19. It knocked on the doors of the Ghana Somubi Dwumadie’s office which called for isolation, fumigation, and brief closure. Oh no! Some key persons expected to attend the event were infected. All staff took the Covid-19 test to ensure no further spread.

We quickly needed action for safeguarding concerns, to control any spread as the key people planned to attend the event were infected. Measures included the introduction of the Covid-19 antigen test for participants for the three-day event. Wow! That can be challenging considering how the test is conducted. But what is worse? People leaving to their various homes after the event infected? No way! The Programme would have failed in implementing its safeguarding policy.

Learning Manager Elfreda N.L. Arthur (right) interacts with a colleague during the learning event, amidst laughter.

It was time to inform grantees of the safeguarding action and some participants opted to join virtually because of the Covid-19 test. Uncomfortable? Yes, but worth knowing one’s status. And yes, some key persons who had earlier tested positive, now tested negative and joined the in-person and virtually.

The event now became a hybrid one with the majority of grantees joining in person and a few virtually. There were lessons that will inform further events. It was a fruitful event with lots of learning and sharing and resulted in experiences for greater learning from the process.

So yes, Covid-19 changed everything but lost.