Jember PMI Volunteers Help Restore Children's Psychology after the Disaster in Medan

MEDAN - Volunteers from the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) in Jember Regency, East Java, are helping to restore the psychological condition of children after the flood disaster in Medan, North Sumatra.

The Psychosocial Support Service (PSS) and Integrated Health Service activities were carried out by PMI at a number of flood-affected locations, namely at Al-Husna Mosque and Al-Mahri Mosque, Hamdan Village, Medan Maimun District, Medan City, Saturday, January 3.

"The PSS PMI team is trying to restore the children's psychological condition, so that after the disaster their condition is still well maintained," said Head of Service at the PMI Jember Headquarters, Elvana Kusdijanto, in a written statement.

Elvana, who is also part of the PSS team, explained that the activity was attended by 28 children who received disaster mitigation education through recreational methods.

"A total of 28 children participated in humanitarian activities by receiving mitigation education through recreational methods," he said.

He said that the children of disaster victims were invited to participate in recreational and expressive activities that were packaged lightly so that they could easily understand what to do when a disaster occurs.

Through this education, children are expected to no longer have fear and instead be able to respond when a disaster occurs.

"We are here to educate children so that they are not only physically healthy but also mentally resilient," he said.

According to Elvana, the method of playing and telling stories applied in the PSS activity was able to help children release anxiety due to the floods that occurred some time ago.

"PMI hopes that children in the flood-affected areas will have the courage to return to school to gain educational knowledge for their future," he said.

He added that the activity aims to give new enthusiasm to children so that they can return to school without constantly remembering the flood disaster experience.

On the sidelines of the PSS activity, PMI also provided free health services for adult residents. The service was carried out by medical personnel and volunteer Korps Sukarela (KSR) who had a medical background.

Health services are provided to prevent diseases that often appear after disasters, such as acute respiratory tract infections (ISPA), diarrhea, skin diseases, and dengue fever.