Empowering people to become survivors
Empowering people to become survivors
Compounding the challenge of cultural diversity in treating
trauma in the country's far-flung archipelago is a linguistic
factor: No word exists in Bahasa Indonesia for "survivor".
"An alternative is korban, but this means 'victim' and carries
a negative nuance in that it suggests passivity and
powerlessness," said Nelden.
The closest, direct translation would be orang yang bertahan
hidup, which literally means a person who has survived, with an
emphasis on having endured or lived through something, and does
not carry the resilience, perseverance and willful determination
of "survivor", as in "I am a survivor".
"We may have to invent a new word," she said.
Witnesses also experience psychological trauma -- or secondary
trauma -- through indirect contact, such as television viewers
and journalists. Furthermore, direct survivors can experience
retraumatization, a reliving of the triggering incident.
Recognizing the need to address this issue within the context
of a nascent free press, Pulih initiated an educational campaign
focusing on media coverage of traumatic events and its
counterpart, an awareness and self-help campaign for journalists
covering such events.
"The 'trigger' for this was the infamous Cirebon sodomy case a
couple of years ago that affected 40 elementary and junior high
students," said Nelden.
When a Pulih assessment team arrived in Cirebon, they quickly
encountered resistance and even hostility from the affected
children and their families. Eventually, they learned that a
television crew from "outside" - Jakarta - had been there the
week before to film a reconstruction involving the survivors
themselves. Furthermore, the crew had requested the children's
participation in front of the local neighborhood chief, which
made it virtually impossible to refuse for fear of loss of face.
In time, several children spoke to Pulih, but most did not.
Encountering situations as these, even for trained
psychosocial counselors, can result in secondary trauma through
sustained exposure, retraumatization, compassion fatigue and in
the most severe cases, burnout.
"So we're fortunate that our office is full of psychologists,"
said Nelden.
Pulih has peer-counseling facilities such as sharing sessions,
and case conferences also provide its staff with an outlet. In
addition, it is part of an informal network of psychosocial
crisis NGOs and institutes that meet bimonthly to discuss current
and developing issues.
Yayasan Pulih is building upon the individual experiences of
their staff by designing a self-help program for caregivers
working in related fields. Meanwhile, it is also expanding,
developing a resource and database center with an aim to share
its knowledge among other trauma centers and international aid
organizations.
It is hoped that, through such coordinated efforts, a
nationwide support network can be implemented to safeguard the
mental health of the nation.
-- Chisato Hara