In
the Indonesian village of Klaten, 200 children sit glued to
their seats as Red Cross psychosocial support workers use ten-centimetre-tall
puppets to help them deal with their fears.
“Please take me to the bathroom, mum. I’m very afraid,”
says the child puppet. “Why?” asks its mother. “Because
I’m afraid after the earthquake,” she responds.
No one moves a muscle as the children stare, some open-mouthed,
at the spectacle. There is both recognition and laughter.
Members of the psychosocial support programme (PSP) team dance
around with jester hats on, making spider webs between the palm
trees and singing songs about running to the mountain when the
earth shakes.
The show is part of an extensive programme run by the Indonesian
Red Cross (PMI) aimed at helping children, and their parents,
cope with their fear and grief following the earthquake, which
struck the region of Yogyakarta on 27 May.
The disaster killed more than 5,700 people and there are still
hundreds of thousands of families without homes. As the monsoon
season approaches, scores of people continue to live in tents
and under tarpaulins given out by the Red Cross and other aid
agencies.
“Dealing with children is so different from adults,”
says the local PSP Coordinator, 24-year-old Ibu Agnes Widyastuti.
“You have to make them feel comfortable enough to express
their feelings… we try to bring them closer to us so they
can tell, explain what the earthquake meant to them,”
she says.
The puppet’s storyline tells of a child who lost her house
and her school in the tremor.
“She is always crying, she thinks she doesn’t have
anything left,” says Agnes. “But the other puppets
are able to reassure her that she still has friends.”
Out in front of the children Ibu Agnes purrs gently into the
microphone: “Who cried when the earthquake came?”
The children put up their hands. “Who ran away when the
earthquake came?” More hands go up and a few children
cry out.
“If you like running away to the mountain lets sing a
song,” Agnes tells them. “Naik-Naik ke Puncak Gunung.”
(“Let’s climb to the top of the mountain.”)
Set up on a rudimentary stage, with keyboards and miked-up volunteers,
this spectacle has been shown to thousands of young children
across the rural communities around Yogyakarta, whose homes
were decimated by the earthquake.
Fresh from the latest audience, eight-year-old, Rohmat, and
ten-year-old, Agus, sit on a broken wall in Brangkal village,
Dusun Muker, Klaten.
“The walls fell down,” says Agus. “The walls
fell on my sister.”
“I like the puppets,” says Rohmat. “They’re
funny.”
Their names are written on pieces of red cardboard hung around
their necks with string by the PSP team. They show them off
proudly.
“Our neighbour Mbak Bulak, can’t walk yet…
she’s a grandmother,” says Agus. “I like living
in tents,” says Rohmat.
The PSP team believes in the importance of encouraging children
to talk and communicate, regardless of what they have to say.
“The saddest story I heard,” recalls Ibu Agnes,
“was the death of a little girl’s mother. The family
didn’t tell the child… They lied about the death
and told her that her mother had gone to Jakarta.”
According to Ibu Agnes, the family waited for three weeks before
telling the girl that her mother had died.
“That had such a bad effect… you must inform children
of death as soon as possible,” she says.
Ibu Agnes is a psychology graduate who went to help in Banda
Aceh after the 2004 Asian tsunami and ended up joining the Red
Cross as a volunteer. She is now a paid member of the PSP team.
“After the earthquake happened I came here to Yogyakarta,”
she says. “There are so many disasters in Indonesia...
I hope I can learn more and do well in this field.”
The Indonesian Red Cross has given her the opportunity to apply
her skills in psychological support training.
“Comfort is the best thing you can bring to children.”
Today’s event takes five days to arrange with 30 volunteers.
She and her team also organize “sharing groups”
for adults and teenagers. They go into schools and help teachers
identify the signs of stress and trauma.
The psychology education trainer helps them look out for kids
who are withdrawn, crying or naughty.
“The best thing with naughty children is to get them involved
in games with teams so they can share with each other and work
through this together,” Ibu Agnes explains.
There is no doubt the children are having a good time. But eventually
the fun has to finish and the PMI team has to go.
“The happiness is not only for now,” says Ibu Agnes.
“They’ll have good memories of this day, the singing,
the puppets and they’ll take away good experiences to
do with the earthquake… I do believe they can find happiness
again.”
Agus says he is happier now, three months after the quake, but
Rohmat says he doesn’t like going to school in a tent.
What do they wish for most? Agus would like to have books and
Rohmat would like to have many, many puppets.
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“I’m
afraid of the earthquake”. Puppets allow children
to examine their own emotions from a safe distance. (p14561)
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Putting
psychology into action, Agnes Widyastuti from the Indonesian
Red Cross compères the puppet show. (p14560)
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Worldwide
web: Red Cross volunteers decorate the village to make
it a special day for the traumatized children. (p14563)
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Looking
the part, the Indonesian Red Cross volunteers dress up
to try and put the children at ease. (p14564)
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The
children are glued to their seats as the show seeks to
help the children confront their fears. (p14562)
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