* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
On my recent trip to the quake-affected areas of Sichuan Province, China, many children spoke about how Save the Children’s child-friendly spaces have been instrumental in helping them deal with the distress and chaotic nature in the aftermath of the earthquake. “When we attend the CFS we can see our friends and talk and take our mind off of things and the teachers (facilitators) are very nice and help us a lot,” a 10-year-old girl said to me.
The 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Sichuan province on 20th April 2013 killed at least 190 people, leaving thousands others injured. Many homes and buildings were damaged or destroyed in the disaster, affecting a total of 1.5 million people living in the area. Save the Children, along with partners from One Foundation and 45 civil society organisations, helped to set up the child friendly spaces and implement programs for children there.
When I visited Longmen Township to monitor the progress of our CFS there, I was struck by how much damage was done by the earthquake. Virtually every building had been damaged, many reduced to nothing more than a pile of rubble. One CSO worker in the area reported that in one school alone approximately 60-70 children were experiencing psychosocial distress due to the earthquake. This may account for the higher number of children attending the CFS on a regular basis as compared to other areas and villages.
“The CFS has really had a beneficial impact on adding a sense of normalcy and structure to these children’s lives and in so doing has really aided the recovery process,” a kindergarten teacher and CFS volunteer told me. “The CFS has implemented a good balance of creative, expressive and arts activities, learning activities and even time for just fun, relaxing activities.”
Additionally, the CFS can be used to prepare children for future disasters. “We thought that since the earthquake damage is much greater in this area, a programme focused on disaster risk reduction and safety would be an additional and beneficial way to help children recover,” said one CSO manager. “We have even had some opportunities to role play and the children have found it very helpful in building their confidence and being prepared should another disaster strike.”
CSO volunteers in the community also regularly to check on the progress of the children and their caregivers at home. “The home visits are incredibly helpful,” a woman remarked. “Many of the caregivers of children in this community are grandparents like myself, and with so many parents migrating to the towns for work this is helpful for us as we have many things to do and cannot play and look after the children at all hours of the day.”
Overall, our analysis is that the protection and psychosocial support programmes have been extremely beneficial in promoting the recovery of children. Our CSO partners are continually learning and growing. A more intensive Psychosocial First Aid (PFA) training programme for CSOs and volunteers is planned for the near future, which we believe will not only further the quality of our programmes in this response, but will also help to build a cadre of trained PFA providers that can be called upon in the future should a disaster strike. This will aid Save the Children overall in providing psychosocial support in the very early weeks of a disaster response when this type of support is so critical.
