“At night I dream only bad things,” said 10-year-old Matias. “Sometimes I see that the earth is opening and we all fall in a hole. Many bad things. That my mom and dad die.”
Christian aid organization World Vision today opened a new children’s center in Dichato, Chile, which was devastated by last week’s deadly earthquake and tsunamis.
The children’s centers, called Child-Friendly-Spaces, are areas set up in tents, schools, churches and other structures where children can enjoy activities such as arts, crafts, music and drama, which provide them with some of the structure and safety that they lose following disasters. In addition, there are opportunities for them to talk to peers and psychologists to begin emotional healing after their frightening experiences.
“I get scared at night,” said 7-year-old Millaray.
“At night I dream only bad things,” said 10-year-old Matias. “Sometimes I see that the earth is opening and we all fall in a hole. Many bad things. That my mom and dad die.”
“The children don’t understand what’s happening. They cry. They suffer,” says Paz Romina Castillo Aviles, a fourth-grade teacher from Dichato. “They’ve lost their homes and their parents are facing a lot of stress because of what they are living through right now.”
Aviles is now leading activities at the Child-Friendly Space in Dichato. World Vision provided materials, space and training. Trained community members like Aviles provide the professional support.
“Even though you see them laughing and smiling, they are dealing with the trauma of what it means to have lost their homes,” said Aviles. “What kids need most right now is a distraction.”
“This is significant because it helps them forget what they have gone through. They have fun and they begin to feel that this is normal—a new normal,” she said.
Each Child Friendly Space accommodates about 100 kids. There are more than 1,000 children between the ages of zero and 18 living in Dichato. About 300 of them are between 1 and 5 years old. The remaining 700 are between 6 and 18 years old.
World Vision has been working in Chile for some 30 years and has more than 100 staff on the ground before the quake hit, many of whom lived and worked in areas close to the quake epicenter. The agency has worked extensively around Concepcion as well as in the capital of Santiago.
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