The
cyclone shelter is a busy place, filled with the sounds of children
paying, teachers directing activities and volunteers organizing
children into groups for a morning milk break.
This shelter in Prathabaramapuram is home to just one of the
45 crèches that Canadian Red Cross is supporting with
a supplementary nutrition program throughout the state of Tamil
Nadu in southern India. The program started in April 2003 and
supplements the daily diets of the children in the crèches
with milk, eggs, fruits and vegetables.
However, since the tsunami, the programme has also sought to
provide psychosocial support to some of the young survivors
of that terrible disaster.
Jayabharathi Annadurai is only five and a half years old, but
according to her mother Sengodi, she still remembers the scenes
of people running from their homes and seeking refuge in the
shelter.
“She was so scared when she saw the bodies,” explains
Sengodi who volunteers at the crèche. “She kept
asking ’What happened to them’?”
Sengodi says that Jayabharathi still remembers what she saw
in the aftermath of the tsunami. “Even now, two years
later, she has bad dreams,” she says.
When the tsunami happened, the cyclone shelters throughout Tamil
Nadu became hubs of community activity. Local people whose houses
were destroyed moved into the shelters, which quickly became
overcrowded. Communal kitchens were set up in some, whilst others
became temporary morgues.
After a month or so, still suffering from trauma, people began
to move out of the shelters. But many would not allow their
children to return to the Red Cross day-care.
“People believed that the spirits of the dead who were
brought to the shelter were still haunting it,” says Irene.
“They didn’t want their children in the building.”
So, according to local custom, a religious ceremony was held
to sanitize the facility and exorcize the ghosts and after that,
the children were allowed to return.
It quickly became evident to the volunteers and staff that the
level of the children’s trauma required special attention.
As a result Canadian Red Cross decided to expand the emotional
wellness aspect of the program to help the children’s
recovery in 13 of the 45 crèches.
The teachers underwent training and learnt to emphasize the
importance of play and its therapeutic value.
“Play is central to the lives of children and it is used
to help them emotionally,” says Irene. “The teachers
share in the children’s experience of stress and trauma
through various activities.”
As part of the programme – known locally as the ‘Smiling
Oysters’ programme – the children are encouraged
to draw. Their pictures offer a clear insight into the huge
impact that the tsunami has had on their lives. One drawing
shows a normal day at the beach, with fishermen selling their
catch and children and pets playing on the beach under a big
sun. It also shows the tsunami wave rolling in from the distance
and at the top of the picture is the date and the time: “December
26, 2004, 8:30 in the morning.”
As well as supporting the children, the teachers also give tips
to parents on how to handle questions from their children and
recognize signs of stress or trauma.
Janisrani, one of the teachers, says there is still a need to
continue working with those children who continue to show signs
of stress.
“The children still don’t want to play at the sea,”
Janisrani explains. “Some of them get scared when it rains.”
It’s a long road to recovery, to be sure. But progress
is visible. Sengodi explains that the play therapy has helped
her daughter Jayabharathi and that there are definite signs
of improvement.
“She isn’t afraid to come to the shelter anymore,”
says Sengodi. “She likes to play and to learn. I see that
she forgets about the bad things when she comes now and that
she is happy here.”
Canadian Red Cross plans to build on the success of the ‘Smiling
Oysters’ programme by expanding it into other crèches
and into primary schools in Tamil Nadu.
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Jayabharathi
Annaduram leads the children in a song at her crèche
in Prathabaramapuram. (p15315)
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Jayabharathi’s
mother Sengodi, a volunteer at the crèche, hands
out sweets to the children. (p15316)
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Canadian
Red Cross project officer Irene Stanley, at the Prathabaramapuram
crèche.. (p15317)
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