Sumatra quake: Aid worker's diary VI

Red Cross psychosocial support volunteers help children suffering from trauma.

Patrick Fuller of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies observes volunteers dealing with the psychological aftermath of the disaster.

Another early start, this time thanks to the sound of heavy hammering on the wall outside my bedroom. They were demolishing one of the hotel walls that cracked in the earthquake.

Living amidst the destruction of an earthquake is disturbing, especially for people in villages where literally every house has collapsed. The Indonesian Red Cross have learnt a great deal since the the 2004 tsunami, particularly how to handle the psychological trauma that comes with major disasters.

I headed off with a team of psychosocial support volunteers to the village of Sikupa in Pariaman district. With us was Irem Yeniokatan, from the Turkish Red Crescent, who has been building the local capacity of the Red Cross in Aceh.

Members of the team in Padang had flown in from Aceh and Java. The Turks are no strangers to earthquakes themselves, which is how they have come to specialise in this field.

Helping children

Patrick: children have difficulty making sense of what has happened to them

Irem's background is in social work. She explains how women and children suffer the effects of disasters far more then men. Children in particular have difficulty making sense of what has happened to them. Providing them with some structured play activities helps to bring some joy back into their lives and reduces their stress levels.

Sikupa was chosen largely because no-one had been to help the 1,500 families that live there. Eighty per cent of the houses in the village had collapsed and about 20 families were camped out at the local mosque.

All the children of the village gathered with their mothers at the mosque and what followed was two hours of pure fun and laughter. The Red Cross team launched into a riotous puppet show that was interspersed with "follow the leader exercises". Punching the air stamping the ground and shouting the house down is a simple but effective way to help the children to let off steam.

The volunteers were giving special attention to some of the children in the audience. Widya Wiranti is a primary school teacher. Her school collapsed in the earthquake so she joined the Red Cross and now spends her time working with the PSP team.

It is clear that the relief effort is largely being spear-headed by local NGOs, companies, religious organisations and individual well-wishers

She is a natural with children and is focusing on a little boy called Abi who is clearly suffering trauma. He clings to his mother as Wiranti goes into a role-play and gently coaxes him towards a picture book.

Abi's mother, Nelda, explains that he cries a lot and cannot sleep. Wiranti reassures her that this is normal behaviour after such as a traumatic event and encourages her to show him plenty of love and affection to help him cope.

It transpires that Abi's story has a bizarre twist. Exactly a week before the disaster he had a premonition that an earthquake was going to strike. His sixth sense predicted everything that subsequently happened with uncanny precision.

Good news

More good news. I learn that the Red Cross has now distributed relief supplies to 2,200 families, that is over 10,000 people.

It is clear that the relief effort is largely being spear-headed by local NGOs, companies, religious organisations and individual well-wishers. Civil society plays an important and largely unrecognised role in filling the hunger gap in the first few days after any emergency.

We are nearly driven off the road by a huge white fire truck, obviously brand new, with a bunch of Europeans perched on top, all wearing designer pastel blue uniforms and wraparound sunglasses. Italian search and rescue perhaps?

Still no sign of the USAID flight, but a cargo plane with 15 tons of tarpaulins and blankets arrived for us courtesy of the Australian government. A water filtration unit also arrived in the port.

The only problem was waiting half the day for the tide to come in so that the ship could rise high enough in the dock to be off-loaded.

Aid worker's diary: Day Five

Aid worker's diary: Day Four

Aid worker's diary: Day Three

Aid worker's diary: Day Two

Aid worker's diary: Day One