Healing Arts for Tsunami Survivors

Healing Arts for Tsunami Survivors: "The destruction caused by the December 26 tsunami in the Indian Ocean is likely to haunt generations. Nearly 160,000 people along the deadly seashores of Asia and Africa are known to have perished. The surviving children are left traumatized and vulnerable. The United Nations reports that 1.5 million children are affected, many of whom have lost one or both parents.

Many of these children are terrified by the ocean and unable to sleep. Some are already showing signs of fear and worry such as confused behavior, aggressive demeanor, and suicidal thoughts. Help delivered quickly will reduce the long-term psychological damage of this catastrophe on the children.

Children affected by tsunami and child survivors of 9/11 attacks

Scientific studies on the psychological effect of the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center found that directly affected children were at risk for a variety of mental health problems including anxiety disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and childhood traumatic grief (CTG), a condition affecting those who experience a death under traumatic circumstances. Preventing and treating the distress experienced by children as soon as possible is crucial for optimal long-term health and recovery. Parents, caregivers and teachers of these children were found to minimize, ignore, deny and criticize, or be sensitive to the plight of the children, depending upon their own recovery and progress.

Although the magnitude and circumstances of the tsunami tragedy are different, the children who survived the tsunami face similar traumas as those who survived 9/11, and the knowledge gained from one tragedy can be useful in diagnosis and treatment of the survivors of another.

Healing and recovery program
Healing Arts for Tsunami Survivors is a program to help the 1.5 million child survivors of the tsunami tragedy. An initial three-phase program has been developed to help the children heal and resume normal lives. Your donations and support will help the program reach as many children as possible.

Leading experts from the Columbia University/NYS Psychiatric Institute, the Interactive Media Institute, the International Networking Group of Art Therapists (ING/AT), and the International Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions (IACAPAP) are helping the effort. Additional experts include a former co-director of the Silver Shield 9/11 Bereavement Program and consultant to the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, the coordinator of the Bam Paint Shop for children who survived the earthquake in Bam, Iran in 2003, which killed 46,000 people, and a clinical psychologist who was director of Children's Mental Health Services in Armenia during the Nagoro Karabagh war, who also led the child intervention efforts following the Armenian earthquake in 1989. Learn more...

ICAF is implementing the Healing Arts for Tsunami Survivors program through its partner organizations in Sri Lanka, India and Malaysia. These grass-root organizations started helping the children in their respective countries immediately after the tsunami struck. Learn more..."