Elementary school children and even those as young as three years old can freshly remember the rage of the Typhoon Ursula that lashed Balasan town, Iloilo on Christmas Day, an official from the social welfare office said.
Thus, the Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office 6 provided intervention to help children recover from the effects of typhoon by setting up child-friendly spaces in evacuation centers, Balasan Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office (MSWDO) head Ma. Janette Alunday said in an interview on Saturday.
In Balasan, Alunday said social workers attended to the needs of around 50 children by providing them debriefing and other activities that would help them recover from traumatic impact of Ursula.
“When the parents are away during the day, the children stay in our child-friendly spaces where daycare workers prepare activities for them,” she said.
Alunday said some of the children have experienced trauma due to typhoon while others developed fear upon hearing thunder and raindrops.
She said activities in the child-friendly spaces can help the young ones share with others their experiences and replace fear with a positive outlook in life.
“They have storytelling activities in which the children can relate their comments. Arts and crafts activities, meanwhile, allow the children to illustrate and release their feelings through drawing, she added.
The child-friendly spaces also assure parents that their kids are safe as they are away for work or busy rebuilding their damaged homes.
Balasan was one of the most badly-damaged towns by Ursula that left 41 people dead based on the latest report of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.
Source: PNA
