Aceh's children tell their story

Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post/Banda Aceh

"I wanted to run." This short and simple statement was the only sentence seven-year-old Rafli had in mind when he was asked to write something. His face was expressionless and there was no trace of a smile.

Simple as it is, the sentence represented his deepest feeling, and wish, when the tsunami struck Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam on Dec. 26.

A number of volunteers from the National Commission for Child Protection visited Bukit Soeharto refugee camp in Lamreh village, Masjid Raya district in Aceh Besar regency recently to get the children to play, sing songs, color pictures as well as asking the children to express their thoughts and feelings in a letter.

"You can write anything to anyone, be it the President, Amien Rais, or people you love," said Hurul, another volunteer, while handing the children blank sheets of paper.

Immediately, around 20 children at the camp got busy with their pens and papers -- apart from Rafli, who stared blankly at the paper.

While his peers were singing, playing and laughing, he stayed quiet, occasionally clapping his hands but without even a hint of a smile.

Seeing his cool response, a volunteer, Sinta, approached him, to try to engage him in conversation.

His responses were brief, mostly through gestures like nodding, until he spoke the four words he would like to put in the letter, and the story behind them.

The third of four siblings, Rafli was swept away by the giant waves but was carried to a piece of land, and survived. At that time, the only thing in his mind was to run as fast as he could to escape the waves.

The tragic event not only left scars on his soul but also his right leg, now paralyzed.

"Rafli is depressed and losing his spirit, even to say what he wants to say. He shows no emotion in anything he does. Rafli's case is not unusual as almost all of the traumatized children show similar tendencies," Sinta said.

If the condition is left untreated, the children will suffer from serious mental illness, she added.

In this case, creating a happy atmosphere -- getting them to play and letting them freely express themselves -- is essential to help the children recover from the trauma.

The commission's office manager, Rachma Fitriani, said it was not an easy task to relieve the children of their trauma and fear. She added that it would be a process and require special therapy.

One of the programs organized by the commission is the national movement of correspondence with children of Aceh and Nias, North Sumatra.

Collaborating with state-owned postal company PT Pos Indonesia, the program is aimed at getting the children to share their feelings and desires with other people all over the country.

"We believe it's an effective way to facilitate communication and it works as a media for children to say what they think. It's also a sort of psychosocial therapy for the children who survived the disaster," said Rachma.

She said the commission had around 1,000 profiles and pictures of children who survived the disaster in Aceh, with 200 of them profiled in the special edition of the pen pal magazine.

Corporate communication manager of PT Pos Indonesia, Arief Setyanto, said the company would provide paper, envelopes, postcards and pens for the program, free of charge.

The company, which would also regularly pick up and deliver the mail at refugee camps, planned to continue the program for three months while the commission projected it to last for six months.