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Bangladesh: humedica Helps the Children in Coping with Trauma

The wounds, which day after day remind Chand Banu on the havoc wreaking Cyclone Sidr, are no longer visible from the outside. It’s the images which will never allow the people from Bangladesh to be able to forget those horrific hours. Images of loved ones being ripped away by the waves or watching helplessly as others were hit from swirling debris. On this day Chand Banu lost her three-year-old daughter. Her five-year-old son survived, but night after night, he cries in his sleep.

Dancing and singing help the children in dealing with their experiences. Photo: Schuckmann-Honsel

It’s a wonder that the five-year-old Abdur survived the storm. After being pulled away from his mother, he succeeded in holding on to the branch of a tree. But the memories of these moments make it impossible for him to put his experience into words. While although immediately following the storm he was able to speak about what happened, he has been silent now for several weeks. Night after night he wakes up from his fright, crying. And Abdur is no exception.

Many people witnessed horrible things and lost family members and friends because of the cyclone in mid-November. Officially, 2500 lives were lost. And when roughly four months have now passed, the emotional wounds have not yet healed. The children suffer the most from these traumatic experiences. Right now they need someone they can depend on, usually a mother or father. But many of these children lost their parents in the storm. Branded from these horrible experiences, many children wake up crying in the night, suffer from fevers or cling to the nearest tree branch, as soon as the wind blows a little stronger.

In order to help the children in the coping with these traumatic experiences, humedica, together with local partners SUKTARA MAHILSCHMITI (NGO) and KOINONIA, are developing a project in Barguna. With the help of games and creative programs, around 200 children are currently being helped in dealing with their experiences. Alongside the psychological support and self-made clothes, the children also receive a balanced meal every day. All these things will help the children work their way back to a normal life and overcome their trauma.

humedica-coordinator Sandra Schuckmann-Honsel during her visit in January. Photo: humedica