The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Rehabilitation of tsunami orphans needs special attention

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jan 12, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Rehabilitation of tsunami orphans needs special attention

By Ramya Kannan and N. Ravi Kumar

By Ramya Kannan and

N. Ravi Kumar

CHENNAI, JAN. 11. As relief works in the affected coastal districts of Tamil Nadu enter the development phase, organisations working with children urge that special attention be paid to the rehabilitation of tsunami orphans.

Among those who have been affected, 50 per cent are children (who have been orphaned overnight), of whom 20 per cent are below six years. Dola Mohapatra, national director of CCF-India, says the initial estimates obtained through NGOs and Government agencies reveal that 1,744 children aged up to 18 lost both their parents and 1,450 one parent.

Six hundred and forty-four children who are now orphans figure in the 0-5 age group, while the number of those losing one parent in this category is 800. The plight of the surviving parents is no less heart-rending as a staggering 11,750 children have been separated from their close ones in the affected areas, while nearly 15,000 youngsters, including 6,133 infants have gone missing.

Reports of ICDS centres/balwadis being affected or totally demolished along the coastline are also coming in, with unofficial estimates pegging it at 108 centres in the State. Besides, temporary orphanages have also been organised to take care of the orphan children.

While appreciating the efforts of the Government and aid workers in providing relief to people in the affected districts, Ranjan Mohanty, national convener, Campaign Against Child Labour (CACL) appealed to the State to consider the special needs of infants and children with reference to food and nutrition. K. Shanmugavelayutham of TN-FORCES, a network working for children in the 0-6 age group, recommends that supplementary food, including milk, should be given to them to avoid malnutrition and illness. Pregnant and lactating mothers should also be covered under this category.

While this is in the realm of immediate relief, CACL's central secretariat and the Tamil Nadu chapter also focusses on the psychological rehabilitation of the children, traumatised watching bodies being dug out and buried, losing their parents, siblings and relatives. Counselling is essential to handle the stress and to enable them move on into normal childhood, Mr. Mohanty stressed. Teachers could be given training on psycho-social counselling and they might be successful, considering they are aware of the children's problems and background.

Schools and noon-meal centres must be incorporated into the first stage of reconstruction, both organisations have urged. The Government should coordinate with NGOs, corporates and other aid agencies to rebuild the ICDS centres 500 metres away from the coastline. Philanthropists volunteering to help could adopt specific ICDS centres that they can also help build. The centres could be effective in encouraging creative activity among children, to take their mind off the tragedy and thereby even act as a therapy.

Adoption

They also call on the Government to exercise the option of integrating orphaned children within the community before allowing adoption. "It is best that only children whom the community has not taken under its wing be incorporated into the adoption plan," Mr. Mohanty added. He also pointed out the possibility of increase in trafficking, fearing that a large number of children, especially girls, could become soft targets for traffickers.

Reasoning out this apprehension, Mr. Mohapatra said: "It is vital to think about child protection. The post-tsunami situation presents increased risks in areas such as separation, trafficking, sexual exploitation and child labour ... social risks frequently create major protection issues."

The State should pay attention to this and put in place systems that will prevent such sale of children.

The data, according to Mr. Mohapatra, indicated the urgent need for provision of psychosocial support to the children, particularly by enhancing their protection.

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