Acehnese offered alternative therapies

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh, Aceh

Abdussalam lay face down on one of five stretchers in a tent where several foreigners clad in yellow T-shirts helped people who had approached the Scientology volunteers in search of consolation.

Andre, a Swede, lightly stroked the 36-year-old over particular nerve points before asking him to roll over and inquiring whether the displaced resident of Lamhu village, Inin Jaya in Aceh Besar felt any better.

The volunteer then led him outside by the hand and ordered him to touch the bus parked by the tent, the trees and the shoulder of a passersby to regain his sense of something solid.

Abdussalam and his friends have not slept soundly since Dec. 26, when an earthquake and ensuing tsunamis leveled parts of Aceh and North Sumatra provinces.

"I always feel as though the earth is moving under me, although others convince me that there is no aftershock. None of us can sleep, including my wife, who is nine months' pregnant. But she doesn't want to come here ... I feel much better now, I already feel sleepy. I'll come back for more treatment," he told The Jakarta Post.

A couple walked in brought by a relative, who said the waves had wrenched their three children away from them. The father had lost his ability to hear and his right hand was injured.

Talking in broken Indonesian, another volunteer asked them to be seated and began to massage them, again asking whether they felt any changes. The two were soon relaxed and expressed their gratitude.

At the far end of the tent, another volunteer was teaching massage techniques to body retrievers. It was hoped that the therapy would alleviate their stress after seeing unimaginable scenes of death and destruction. Two students from Lhokseumawe were also being trained by Scientology volunteers.

"We're here to help people to heal themselves," Wayne Saunders of Perth, Australia, told the Post.

The volunteers from many parts of the world are apparently working hand-in-hand with members of a Muslim organization, who will give the patients religious instruction after their massages.

The Scientology volunteers said they planned to stay for a month.

With over 105,000 people killed in Indonesia and thousands of others still missing, the health ministry has estimated that half of the over 605,000 displaced people in Aceh are suffering from mental problems, ranging from severe to minor breakdowns, with symptoms such as insomnia, anxiety, confusion, depression, delusion and excessive fear of water.

According to Wayne, the Scientology team offers various self- help methods that are useful in helping survivors recover.