Volunteers Help Children Recover from Trauma After NTT Earthquake

For children still afraid to look at their homes or return to school, recovery after the Flores earthquake involves more than food and shelter. Volunteers are bringing play, learning and psychological support to the evacuation site in East Nusa Tenggara.

Pendekar 08 began its second day of activities on Wednesday, September 2, distributing around 1,000 rice packages weighing a total of five tonnes. The group also brought hundreds of boxes of food and mineral water, family and children’s supplies, religious and school equipment, and cleaning and cooking tools.

The volunteers are working with the Indonesian military while residents remain in temporary accommodation. Ancilla Yanny Irmella, the group’s chairwoman, said the volunteers had come to help people still dealing with the effects of the disaster. She thanked Kodim 1612 for accompanying the operation from its preparation through its second day.

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We from Pendekar 08 came here to help people affected by the disaster. I also thank Kodim 1612, which has accompanied us from the preparation stage until today.

Lieutenant Colonel Amos Comenius Silaban, commander of Kodim 1612/Manggarai, said roughly 600 residents remained at the integrated shelter. More than 1,000 people had initially stayed there, but many had since returned to their homes and resumed daily activities. Those still at the post mainly lost their homes or saw them suffer severe damage.

Silaban said trauma recovery had become a major need alongside logistics and kitchen supplies. Members of the Ruang Sonya Bagung psychology team said their initial assessments found that some children and parents remained psychologically distressed in the first weeks after the earthquake. The activities are intended to help displaced families gradually resume everyday life.

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What people need now, besides logistics, is to overcome the trauma caused by the disaster.