Living after COVID-19 is possible thanks to psychosocial support

"It was hard to play alone as if I had an incurable disease," said Claudio Princio,12-year-old. He still remembers the weeks of loneliness as the neighbours' children were forbidden to play with him. With his father suffering from COVID-19 during the first wave in Madagascar, it was devastating for the small family of two children.

"We were cut off from the rest of the community. Everyone ran away from us and wouldn't even let their children play with ours. A hard time," recalls Ravolandraibe Claude Norris, the father affected by COVID-19. As a teacher in a rural commune nearby, he travelled a lot and met many people. But at that time, the coronavirus was still a new and dangerous disease, and the victims were socially discriminated.

In Andranofeno, a neighbourhood in Fenerive Est, in the Eastern Madagascar, the family of Claude Norris was the first to be affected.

They were among the one hundred and forty post-test confirmed cases of coronavirus in July and suffered the stigma of society in the region of Analanjirofo.To support the Regional Steering Committee of the fight and to bring its contribution in the fight against the propagation of Covid19 , UNICEF – since the declaration of the sanitary crisis in Madagascar – supported the Regional Direction of the Population in the reinforcement of the capacities and the training of social actors on the psychosocial support for the families affected by the COVID19, useful and practical information around the pandemic COVID19: transmission mode, prevention through the barrier gestures and the orientation towards the doctor as soon as presence of symptoms, as well as the follow-up of these families . 

That day, we met Angeliette Rasoanirina at the house of the family of Claude. “She was the only person who came to see us and comfort us and enhance our morale. A support that is really beneficial especially to our boy who passed his first official exam brilliantly," adds Claude, proud of his son. Indeed, Claudio Princia obtained the first rank in the whole region during the results of the first cycle certificate.

Despite the problems, he was able to overcome them with the support of his parents, social workers and local officials. Supporting families during and after shocks helps them increase their resilience.

Since the disease, the family has redoubled its vigilance to protect themselves: hand washing at the entrance to the house, systematic wearing of masks, respect for protective measures, ...