Society support to students who can’t return to loved ones

GCU’s Nigerian Students’ Society has been helping to support those isolated by the coronavirus lockdown.

The dedicated group have been focusing on students who are not in a position to fly home and reunite with family and friends.

The society’s events coordinator Grace Bajo has been helping to organise Zoom events to check-in and help make others aware that they are not alone during these difficult times.

Grace, who’s studying MSc Food Bioscience, explained: “As a committee, we decided to look at ways that we could actually support students during this period of lockdown.

One of our events is called ‘Chit-Chat Connect’. To keep things positive we asked students to think about what they have achieved during lockdown and what their plans are for the future once their degrees are finished.

It also allowed us to introduce our new committee - with a lot of our current group due to be finishing up at GCU.”

She added: “Our games nights have been a lot of fun too! These are held every second Sunday on Zoom and allow students to come on, have a chat and get involved in things like charades and other fun games we would play in Nigeria.”

Grace feels support is particularly important at this time for those international students who can’t get home, as they may not have been in a situation like this before.

She said: “This period of isolation means we can’t see to our family at home or our friends here in Glasgow. It is crucial for mental health to interact, as everyone is missing the normal life they had before lockdown.

Our Facebook group and Whatsapp chat also lets us tell students about different support available to them and gives them the opportunity to talk to anyone about how they’re feeling.”

You can connect with GCU’s Nigerian Students’ Society on Facebook here.

By Ross Clark
Got an SHLS or GSBS story? Email me at Ross.Clark@gcu.ac.uk or message me on Twitter