Liberian Social workers urged to realize their full potential in the workplace.
By: Emmanuel Wise Jipoh
Monrovia, Liberia, March 31, 2025 – Former Presidential Candidate, Dr. Jeremiah Z. Whapoe, Sr., cautions social workers here, not to underestimate their value, but rather to fly high and meet their true potentials.
Delivering keynote address at Social work- Day, organized by the Social Work Student Association (SOWA) on AME University campus, Prof. Whapoe charged Social workers to step up and demonstrate resilience as an “Eagle”, that he references in a short tale, that was stock on a branch of a tree, unable to fly, but was compared to flies, after a poor farmer cut its branch on a test of a king.
The Vision for Liberia Transformation (VOLT) Political leader reminds social workers about conditions of life, such as poverty, bad governance, nepotism, sectionalism, and tribalism, among others that hindrance their progress.
“In Life, we become habituated of doing certain things and we keep doing what we are doing and forget about our high-flying capacity”, Prof. Whapoe notes.
“We are all made to fly high in life. We are made for the sky to be our limit. But like the eagle, we also sometimes prefer to remain on the branch of our comfort zones that we must move from and take steps to realize our true potential.”
He urges Social workers to be more drastic and flap their wings in order to achieve their true potential, like the eagle.
“We must be drastic in our approach – cut off the branches, like poverty, bad governance, sectionalism, nepotism, in order to achieve our goals”, underscores.
The President of SOWSA, Edwin A. Snorton, Jr., emphasizes the pivotal role of social workers to society, saying “We, as social workers, are in an ideal position to educate, and help in every aspect of the society.”
He details that Social works started prior to the 14-year Liberian Civil War that took place from 1989-2003.
