Bridge over troubled waters

Children, particularly, are at risk from long-term psychological effects, especially if they lost parents or siblings in the disaster. That is why some form of psychosocial support is vital as children slowly come to terms with what has happened and begin to return to some kind of normalcy.

Earlier this month, United Nation’s children’s charity Unicef held a conference to harmonise the work being done by those offering psychosocial support in the region.

One such programme, referred to as “psychological first aid for children affected by the tsunami”, is supported by Unicef and run by volunteers from various universities across Thailand. The programme helps school children who have been seriously affected, whether they have lost loved ones and homes or simply been traumatised by events.

“In this tsunami situation, most people are in distress and also have economic problems, so the emotional support of the children is neglected by the family,” says Associate Professor Srivieng Pairojkul from Khon Kaen University, who heads the programme. “In Thai culture, we don’t encourage children to talk much about their concerns, so the feelings of the children are suppressed.

“Teenagers are in a particularly difficult situation because the adults see them as growing men and women while they themselves want to look strong. On top of that, in families where the parents are lost, the teenagers have to be responsible for their brothers and sisters.”

 The programme, she explains, gives children the chance to express their fears and concerns in a supportive environment as well as build strong peer group support. In order to facilitate this, the children are encouraged to express themselves using many different media such as drawing, playing or story telling.

HEALING MINDS

Ban Nam Khem School in Takua Pa district, Phangnga, stands around 100 metres away from a beach ravaged by the events of last December. Although no children were in school at the time, a total of 27 students from the local community lost their lives with another 30 orphaned. Despite such huge loss, as well as substantial damage to classrooms and offices, the school was back in action just over a week later.

“All the children where badly affected emotionally,” says school principal Tawich Jitprasarn. “They were very sensitive and felt fear all the time. Now they can join in classes and are generally okay, although if they hear rumours of another tsunami, they become frightened.”

While generous contributions from charities and the private sector have ensured the construction of new buildings, the school is doing its best to continue within a disruptive environment. The teachers, especially, have been heroic in taking on extra duties such as cooking as well as being a shoulder to cry on.

Recently, Unicef invited learning post to accompany a group of volunteers as they carried out their three-day programme in Ban Nam Khem. The group – around 20 students and their teachers from the Faculty of Nursing at Prince of Songkla University – visited a number of schools in the locality with the intention of bolstering the morale of youngsters.

Group leader Ladawan Prateepchaikul explains that the programme has been built up since first being implemented in Ranong and Phangnga at the start of the year.

“It’s very useful,” she says. “Children feel better when they have been through our programme because they do activities that help them to express their feelings. In other activities, we give them situations and ask them to solve problems in that situation.”

The first day is spent establishing trust between volunteers and the students, who are grouped according to age. Significantly, each group is made up of a mixture of children who lost close family and their friends who have been spared any major upheaval. One of the main intentions is to build a support structure that lasts long after the volunteers have left.

Among the many activities, students are shown four faces with expressions ranging from happy to very sad and are encouraged to focus on one expression that relates closely to their inner feelings. Most of the high school students we observed chose a neutral expression.

One boy, however, who had been laughing and joking for most of the morning, was very candid when asked why he had drawn a sad face. He replied that he missed his grandparents who had been looking after him until the tsunami took them away. At school, he added, he was content among friends but felt sad when he returned to his aunt’s house at night.

While they can be difficult for the students, many activities are designed to be fun and there seems to be little difference in enthusiasm between the very young and the more mature kids. Within a few hours of meeting, the volunteers and students had become firm friends and a mutual trust was evident. If nothing else, the children were enjoying themselves, providing a respite from what must be a difficult life right now.

All the students we observed spoke afterwards of feeling relaxed. The programme, they said, was a welcome contrast to the somewhat stifled atmosphere back home, which, for many, is in one of the many temporary shelters set up in the area.

LONG TERM GOALS

The volunteers from Prince of Songkla University were an energetic and active bunch of young people, many of whom have some responsibility within their student community back home.

While there will be a practical benefit to their involvement in terms of gaining experience, the reason for their presence was overwhelmingly selfless.

“We are Thailand – we want to help Thai people who are in trouble,” says 20 year-old Joy Jaihow. “At university, we study psychology and study what reactions should be in different situations and now we can see for ourselves. Because it’s a mixed group, the ones who are not affected are more vocal, so we try to encourage the affected ones to speak out a bit more.”

Another student, Pik Chaimanee, 21, spoke about how her training has equipped her for the difficult task ahead. “We have done similar activities before, although in a different environment, so we know what works already,” she says. “By the afternoon of the first day, the kids got to know us better and realised that we were here to help and don’t want anything back,” she says.

Volunteers were also working with children on Koh Khao – a small island that, up until a few months ago, had a thriving tourist industry. Both schools on the island have made an impressive recovery, although many of the students have moved elsewhere now that work for their parents has dried up.

“The children miss their lost ones and also their friends who moved back to Isaan,” says 22 year-old volunteer Paradorn Kongpuen. “But they now accept the fact they don’t have the loved ones around any more.”

Jik Limwattanawong, 20, used personal experience to give the kids some hope. “I lost my father some time ago. As time passed, I realised that no matter how bad I felt about his loss, I couldn’t do anything to bring him back. So now I like to pass on those thoughts to the kids here –I want them to know that you can be sad but you need to get on with your life too.”

Assistant professor Pilairat Tongurai, who leads the team on Kho Khao, stressed the long-term implication of the programme, noting that it is important the community know how to support the children.

“Some of the parents don’t want the school to close in summer because, every day, the children can meet their friends and get a lot of support. So in the school they are very happy but at home we don’t know. We need to teach the community how to make themselves stronger – how they can take care of each other without always needing support from outside.”

The next phase of the programme will train teachers how to help the students, since they have sustained contact with them. This makes sense as many children say that their teacher is a significant person in their lives, particularly for those who have lost parents.

The community of Ban Nam Khem seems determined to make life bearable. Despite the hardships, the famous Thai smile continues to radiate from the locals – young and old – and, through this programme as well as mutual support, emotional recovery from the tsunami is actually happening. For the children, that will mean a lot in years to come.