Children play to heal post-disaster trauma

At the foot of Soche Hill in Blantyre, the sounds of chil­dren at play welcome visitors to Kwacha Vision People’s Care.

The community-based childcare centre (CBCC) near Naotcha Market in Chilobwe Township has 10 children with untold stories of the devastation caused by Cyclone Freddy in March 2023.

As they sing, dance and play, five-year-old Faith sits in solitude, gazing at a doll as her mind wanders away from the hullabaloo.

The girl and her mother saw their house collapse when the world’s long­est-lasting cyclone trig­gered landslides in the hilly settlement.

“Our house is gone,” says the girl renamed Faith, gripping her toy, “The house we live in now isn’t ours.”

She is among hundreds of children hit by Cyclone Freddy.

According to the De­partment of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma), the cyclone af­fected more than 2.2 mil­lion people and displaced 679 278 across southern Malawi.

It killed 679 killed and 530 are still missing, Dodma reports.

The toll includes 300 battered households and at least 100 deaths on the slopes of Soche Hill where children still grap­ple with the psychological aftershocks.

“Nearly everyone in this community is af­fected,” says village head Chilobwe. “A year on, the survivors, particularly women and children, still feel the loss, confusion and deteriorating living conditions.”

The post-disaster shock prompted St John of God Hospitaller Services to intervene.

“We are looking at a highly traumatised com­munity,” says the institu­tion’s programmes man­ager Christopher Mhone. “Since last year, we have trained counsellors to assist people with psy­chosocial challenges.”

The mental health workers target clients of all ages.

However, Mhone says the neglected mental needs of children are “more pressing”.

“Tossed from their homes to highly con­gested camps and now staying with strangers, these children had to grapple with a world they had lost, friends and car­egivers they couldn’t see anymore and cherished homes they couldn’t re­turn to,” he states.

The trauma caused by disasters made more fre­quent and devastating by climate change affects the young survivors’ early childhood development.

“If not properly man­aged, this can be particu­larly difficult for their development processes,” says Mhone.

Kwacha Vision Peo­ple’s Care director Bishop Clara Kamanga wrestles with the enormity of the needs of children affect­ed by the cyclone. There are 10.

Having lost nearly everything, their parents struggle to provide basic needs.

“These learners often come to school hungry and we have to feed them before they go to class,” she says gazing at cy­clone-battered structures that still house the be­ginners.

The bishop of Mercy Seed Church says the nine-year-old CBCC, which initially had over 150 children, now enrols less than 50 due to food woes.

“We are currently ra­tioning the food to ac­commodate the chil­dren in dire need,” says Kamanga.

The cleric keeps a fam­ily rendered homeless by the cyclone.

She wishes the survi­vors, especially women, were economically em­powered to venture into a profitable business for their mental well-being.

“Faith is an intelligent girl, but spends most of the time in isolation. At times, she says: ‘Today, I won’t write because I am hungry,’” Kamanga narrates.

Faith’s mother survives on piecework.

She is living with her friend.

A man promised her marriage and assistance but bolted after impreg­nating her.

Blantyre district assis­tant social welfare officer Samuel Chitseko says lack of food and shelter compound mental trau­ma.

As aid for cyclone sur­vivors wanes, the social welfare office encourages community members to find solutions to save chil­dren from hunger, malnu­trition and skipping classes or dropping out.

Chitseko says the psy­chological damage among children can affect brain de­velopment, mental health and overall well-being.

“Children, aged six to 18, who have experienced crisis events are particu­larly prone to psycholog­ical conditions,” he says.

The Department of Child Affairs and hu­manitarian organisations use play-based interactive sessions in child corners to help the vulnerable age group understand the changing situation, develop self-awareness and build resilience.

However, CBCCs assist children below six.

“You don’t coun­sel three to five-year-olds,” he says “They heal through playing and learning materials.”

The Malawi 2063 makes it a priority for every child to go through early childhood develop­ment (ECD) education.

Blantyre district has 1 150 CBCCs, but most of them lack skilled caregiv­ers and toys.

In March, St John of God donated toys, ex­ercise books, colouring books, mats, pens, study books, blocks, number and alphabet charts and crayons to three CBCCs in Blantyre and three others in Mulanje.

The donation targets over 800 CBCC learners in the two districts while sensitising communities to child rights and the dangers of child abuse.

“We are supporting the affected CBCCs so that children can feel moti­vated to go to school. If the kindergartens have nothing, children will not be motivated,” says Mhone.

Mhone says managing children’s psychological burdens involves a lot more than just learning and play­ing.

“Through these toys, we want to stimulate chil­dren’s brains to develop fine motor skills that would promote physical, emo­tional, social and cognitive development,” he says “The materials also help caregivers to monitor traumatic children.”

Caregiver Ruth David says looking at the way interact with peers and materials, trained care providers can track pro­gress in the healing pro­cess.

“We observe children’s behaviour, such as isola­tion from peers, punctu­ality, how active they are, refusing to answer ques­tions and absenteeism to assess their healing process,” she says