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Farai Goto Chronicle Reporter
CONTACT Family Counselling Centre has opened a state of the art training centre in Bulawayo worth $400,000 to cater for short courses in counselling. The centre was funded by the Catholic Church of Germany called Misereor. It was officially opened by the church’s Bulawayo Diocese head Archbishop Alex Thomas. Speaking at the opening ceremony, Contact director, Mrs Despina Madonko, said her organisation offers voluntary counselling services to the community on social problems and HIV related issues.

“Over the years we’ve counselled and tried to assist people to live harmonious family lives and we touched on all sorts of problems such as personal relationships, children disturbed in their studies, extended family relationships, financial problems, frustrated and desperate people who wanted to terminate their lives, HIV issues and many cases of child physical and sexual abuse,” said Mrs Madonko.

“Contact offers free counselling services and it will soon be offering short courses in basic counselling at our newly opened training institution in Bulawayo.” In 2004, the organisation started offering a one year certificate course in systematic counselling and the programme attracted students countrywide.

“Today we’ve 615 graduates with certificates in systematic counselling and we strongly believe this approach will help find solutions to social problems encountered by our people. “We’re also strongly involved in the fight against HIV and we’ve trained about 1,200 people infected with the virus in basic counselling skills,” said Mrs Madonko.

Contact has in conjunction with organisations such as Population Services International (PSI) and the Department of Social Welfare offered courses in child counselling, protection and care. More than 2,000 child care community workers have been trained in Bulawayo, the Midlands and the two Matabeleland provinces.