The Challenge

When the tsunami devastated the coast of Aceh Dec. 26, 2004, it didn’t just destroy houses. Long after the waves receded, survivors continue to cope with the devastation left behind.

Traditional support systems, from village councils to family units to community centres, were destroyed, eliminating the normal ways people gather together to share stories, information and support in order to recover from disaster. The people of Aceh had already endured the difficulties of a 30-year civil war, and after the tsunami, many survivors initially suffered from depression, increased stress levels, insomnia, and stress-related behaviour. The uncertainty of life in temporary shelters, and loss of homes, income and family members made everyday life an unfamiliar challenge.

CARE’s response

CARE’s Aceh Community Psychosocial Support Project is working together with survivors to rebuild communities, families and traditional support systems through community activities such as sport, cultural events and art therapy. The goal of the project is three-fold:

• help survivors recover from the trauma of the
  tsunami and re-establish a sense of security and normalcy;
• help survivors cope with the long-term stress that resulted from the tsunami;
• help communities prepare for and mitigate any
  future disasters.

Coping with trauma

CARE’s psychosocial team first builds a level of trust with the affected communities, establishing a regular schedule of visits and meetings. All activities are designed to create a return to a sense of normalcy and security, helping survivors overcome the trauma and anguish caused by the disaster. Art therapy activities help young children funnel their fear and restlessness to artwork and crafts, and sports tournaments enable older youth to relieve their anxiety through physical exercise and team-building. To mark the one-year anniversary of the tsunami, the psychosocial team partnered with an Acehnese storytelling group to help people remember and move forward through song, laughter and hope for the future.

Solutions to daily challenges

To increase people’s capacity to cope with immediate and long-term stressors, CARE’s psychosocial team works to develop community resilience-building activities. Women and children were the hardest-hit by the tsunami, but they are also the key to the future health of Aceh. Through the re-establishment of women’s groups, women have access to training classes such as tailoring, while at the same time regaining a forum to share ideas, health information about their families, and solutions to day-to-day challenges. CARE’s psychosocial team is training 30 community development councils and 50 community facilitators to meet the needs of women and children in their communities, and to ensure that women are actively involved in all phases of the recovery process.

Preparing for future disasters

The massive earthquake that caused the devastating tsunami triggered a series of aftershocks that will continue for years, making future disasters possible. Working closely with CARE’s reconstruction program, which is implementing disaster risk reduction strategies in its rebuilding methods, the psychosocial team will work to train community disaster management committees in disaster preparedness.

By anticipating different scenarios, communities will establish a clear plan for how to respond if another disaster strikes, such as deciding who is responsible for what activities, determining emergency meeting places, and establishing a means to identify, search for and rescue missing people. CARE staff are training communities in a number of innovative and locally developed counselling mechanisms such as listening skills and group sessions that communities can implement to cope with future disasters, helping them to recover more quickly and as a community.

The psychosocial team also works closely with the other divisions of CARE’s Tsunami Response Program in order to improve communications with the communities, identify needs, and pass on local ideas and knowledge.

As we move from the recovery phase to long-term development, CARE is adjusting our approach to focus more on vulnerable groups in the community such as women, children, the elderly and people with disabilities.

Communities in Aceh before the tsunami were vibrant and closely-knit, with strong social ties. Together with the survivors, CARE’s psychosocial team is working to build the capacity of the communities to re-establish those traditional systems and activities that were destroyed in the tsunami, in order to create a safe, secure future for the people of Aceh.

Project highlights:

Radio opera: In coordination with a local NGO and radio station, the psychosocial team ran a radio opera for communities affected by the tsunami. Each of the 12 weekly episodes featured a new story about life for survivors after the tsunami, with an educational message about how to move forward. For communities that don’t have regular access to radios, the psychosocial team organized listening communities, where people could listen to the radio opera, discuss life after the tsunami, and help each other resolve daily challenges.

Serial comic: In July, 2006, the psychosocial team launched an educational comic in partnership with several other organizations. The comic, based on the psychosocial project’s successful radio opera activity, helps tsunami survivors cope with the trauma and difficult conditions in Aceh following the tsunami by using stories told through a popular comic book style.

Shoeboxes of Love: In partnership with an Australian charity, the psychosocial team distributed Shoeboxes of Love as prizes during children’s festivals and games. The boxes, assembled by donors in Australia, featured toys and school supplies.

Sector : Health and Nutrition, Emergency response
Location : Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, Aceh Besar and Banda Aceh districts
Donor:  Nochbar in Nocht
Project period :  Sept. 1, 2005 to Aug. 31, 2008

Page last updated October 23, 2008