10 babies and children that have been left motherless by the tsunami will not be adopted but will be looked after by their close relatives. The children, the youngest of whom is one month old, are being looked after by the Samoa Victim Support Group.
Viliamu Paese of SVSG says the children still have their aunts and some who lost their mothers in the tsunami still have their fathers alive. He says they have received a number of inquiries asking about adopting the children. The children are being looked after by the SVSG until such time the children’s families are back to normal when they have rebuilt their houses.
Meanwhile, a training program for Samoan community support volunteers is helping tsunami-affected families provide the support their children need.
The UN Children’s Fund is working with the Save the Children to run training sessions for Samoan support workers who are providing social support to families affected by the disaster.
UNICEF Child Protection Officer, Laisani Petersen, says that it is normal for children to be distressed after a major disaster and it is essential that social and psychological issues are faced at an early stage after the tsunami.
The tsunami killed 141 people – more than half of them children – and injured several hundred. Up to 15,000 people have been affected, 9,000 of them children. 4,500 people are in need of help. 2000 students have been affected out of which 1100 have lost their classrooms.
UNICEF says parents may be worried about changes in their children’s behavior after the tsunami, such as not talking, staring into space, or regressing, but with the right support, they will be able to help their children recover from the trauma of the tsunami.
Petersen says that initial training has reached about 50 community support volunteers, some of whom are already working with tsunami-affected families, while others will deploy this week.
Written by Lance Polu, on 14-10-2009 03:27
Source: Talamua
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