Ambon kids learn to ease trauma

M. Azis Tunny, The Jakarta Post/Ambon

It happened during the Idul Fitri holiday six years ago when Thamrin Wally was on his way home with his mother. As they arrived at the Mardika Terminal, suddenly chaos broke out in the vicinity. People fled in panic, and buildings were on fire. Thamrin was confused as he had lost his mother in the chaos. Thamrin, then seven years old, thought that his mother had mistakenly grabbed the hand of another boy in the terminal vicinity.

Thamrin was confused and did not know where to go. Fortunately, a university student whose house was near Thamrin's in the Waringin area recognized Thamrin and escorted him home.

Along the street, Thamrin and his neighbor ran as quickly as possible while keeping a look out for snipers. He saw men and women dead, some mutilated. His house had been burned down. He did not know where to go but again he was fortunate that his neighbor, whose house had also been burned down, brought him to the Al Fatah Mosque.

When Thamrin arrived at the biggest mosque in Ambon, hundreds of people had already taken refuge there and Thamrin was relieved to be reunited with his family.

This was the first time that Thamrin had seen such violence. Days later, scenes of extreme violence became commonplace as sectarian riots -- ostensibly between Muslims and Christians -- broke out all over the city.

The bloody violence turned Thamrin into an introvert, and he was very distrustful of people. "He often sat alone," said a displaced persons coordinator Fatimah Sangaji, who is also Thamrin's neighbor.

Thamrin's story is representative of Ambon children in general. During the sectarian violence that took place between 1999 and 2002 and which killed thousands of people, Ambonese children lived amid the sound of bullets whizzing and bombs exploding. The children lived in fear.

"From their gestures we could easily see that they had been traumatized by the situation," said Baihajar Tualeka, coordinator of the Institute for Women's and Children's Empowerment (LAPPAN).

LAPPAN, whose office is located near the displaced persons camp at the Waiahong Amusement Park, has been actively counseling 436 children in the refugee camp since 2000. Its 18 volunteers also actively counseled children in other camps in Waiheru, Waringin and Tulehue in the city.

Besides LAPPAN, which counsels Muslim children, the Ekaleo Foundation is active in counseling Christian children.

Children from both sides have often met in order to promote pluralism and trust among them, according to Vecky Peilouw, the director of Ekaleo foundation. Ekaleo, which receives funding from a Netherlands organization, counseled some 500 children from the Leihitu area.

Both organizations worked to build children's self-confidence and help ease them out of their trauma. "At first, they were traumatized with the violence. They expressed this when making paintings that were colored with violence symbols such as guns, riots or burned houses," said Vecky.

However, this trend has changed since 2002. Since that year, they had begun to paint flowers, and their articles and poetry tell stories of peace and friendship, said Vecky.

"It's a good development, but it takes time to ease out the trauma completely," said Vecky, adding that spats of violence in recent years had often brought back dark memories for the children.

The two organizations were trying to implant positive values in Ambon children and through these values, they learned that the essence of people's lives is to interact and help each other. These values will be promoted during National Children's Day that is commemorated today.