The children sat in a makeshift school house in a village on Aceh’s battered western coast, reciting the alphabet. Among them was a 12-year old boy who stood up to tell his teacher that he wanted to sing “the tsunami song.” In a soft and gentle voice he began to sing about the wave that swept away his village, separated mothers from children and “left nothing behind.”
But the words were not only about destruction. The song went on to say that everyone who died is in a peaceful place and that it’s time for all who are suffering to help each other.
The children in the room began to cry and so did the teachers. But the mood slowly turned as a young girl began to sing a funny song and then everyone was laughing through their tears.
“This was an important moment for these children,” said Amy Wachtel, the IRC’s child protection coordinator in Aceh, Indonesia. “It illustrates the importance of creating safe and friendly spaces where children can go to laugh, cry and receive support.”
In the wake of December’s destructive earthquake and tsunami, the IRC is establishing many of these “spaces” to support the process of healing for children in affected coastal villages of Aceh province. The goal is to create structured environments where children can engage in activities that will help them regain a sense of normalcy.
To do so is no easy task. “Children who have been traumatized by crisis are often withdrawn,” says Wachtel. To draw them out, she says, educators must layer learning activities with recreation and creative expression. In Aceh, the IRC is involving older youth to lead this process.
IRC teams have already developed child-friendly safe spaces in the destroyed coastal town of Calang, and at the same time, are identifying and registering separated children. The teams will work to reunite them with lost relatives and ensure that in the interim, the children receive the best possible care.
In the district of Nagan Raya where the little boy sang his song, the IRC is also aiding teachers. “We are trying to help teachers to be able to address both their own grief and the grief of their students,” Wachtel said. “Learning to recognize and respond to signs of distress in particularly vulnerable children will help them to create a better atmosphere for healing.”
