The Beirut port explosion caused an additional shock to the children of Lebanon, who were forced by conditions to suffer from the effects of the severe economic crisis and the ongoing pandemic. Therefore, psychosocial and mental health support is needed to help children and their families recover from the trauma.
This support comes through returning them to their daily routine life through playing, studying, expressing their feelings and enjoying their time with their colleagues in an environment in which they feel safe, intense psychological support and protection, and that allows them to integrate and integrate with others, while creating friendly spaces for them in the affected areas.
Individual initiative
Activist and "life coach" (Life Coach), a young Lebanese woman, Alexandra Zahran, and her friends did not hesitate to create a group on her official Instagram page, and to invite young people to join her with the aim of forming a crisis cell that could provide assistance to the people of Beirut.
And it relied on collecting donations, and its work included providing food aid, clothes and toys, removing debris from the explosion and cleaning work, as it constantly relied on its individual initiative and did not seek to join any association.
Draw smiles faces
Alexandra points out that she has moved to the second stage, which is the most important step to help all children of all nationalities psychologically affected by the accident, and to draw a smile on their faces, so she chose to distribute games and stories with drawing and coloring tools, as she tells Al-Jazeera Net.
These tools provide an atmosphere of comfort, pleasure and joy, which contributes to the treatment of many emotional and psychological disorders. This participation has created a positive interactive, psychological and emotional atmosphere between parents and children, and it is imperative that there be family communication that leads to psychological comfort in the care of their families.
Will I get a game?
Touched by the question of a 7-year-old boy, Alexandra remembers feeling anxious and anxious: "Are these games enough for all the kids? Will I really get a toy?"
This sentence surprised her and felt a desire to cry, but she caught her temper and answered him calmly, assuring him that everyone will receive toys and gifts without exception.
And Alexandra points out with sadness and regrets that these children have matured prematurely and their childhood is stolen, as they live a life that is not commensurate with their ages, especially after having listened to many of them, chanting one sentence: "The time for play is over and the life of warmth and security is over."
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Those are the results of your donations, love and effort! Smile, you just made a kid happy! Today was our first distribution, we gifted 600+ toys, coloring equipments, games and a lot more! We made 600+ children happy. I will be announcing dates for the upcoming donations soon🧸 Thank you for your donations! Thank you, to the best team who worked so hard to draw smiles on children's faces who are traumatized after #beirut. Thank you to everyone who made this happen! Our children deserve better If you are willing to help in the next donations, stay tuned for the updates here! Team ✊🏻🇱🇧 @ fouadhrk1 @mariamsultann @walidmasrii @mhmd_fakhrddine @sleimanmoubarak @graciaaintablian @faysalghazal @lilianmeraashly @marwahb @ayahfadxx
A post shared by Oleksandra El Zahran (@polleksandra) on Aug 20, 2020 at 1:13 pm PDT
Family dialogue is a priority
She continues her explanation, saying, "What is the sin of these children to be deprived of a smile? We must not stand unable to provide them with a helping hand to enjoy a safe and sound childhood, and here comes the role of family dialogue that creates an interaction between the child and his parents to facilitate dealing with him, and to feel safe and psychologically comfortable. Parents and children is very important, especially for treating symptoms of PTSD.
Alexandra concludes by saying that she is about to implement a project dedicated to children that provides all kinds of psychological and social support with recreational and cultural activities, to give positive effects to children, make them feel caring and have a glimmer of hope, and alleviate the suffering and challenges of life in Lebanon.
Parents' help for children is a necessity
Maggie Al-Khatib, an educational and social specialist and head of the kindergarten department at Al-Maqasid School, told Al-Jazeera Net, "The percentage of children being affected by the impact of the explosion varies; To supervise the treatment, so it is imperative to provide assistance to these children to overcome this traumatic catastrophe and return to a normal state. "
Activities to overcome the shock of the blast
According to al-Khatib, there are activities that parents can implement with their children to help them overcome the shock of the explosion, the most important of which are:
First: Accept the disorder that occurs to the child by adults, because what the child feels at this stage is real and natural, and he is not able to control his emotions, feelings and actions as a result of the shock of the explosion and its effects on him.
Second: Parents can provide assistance to their children by allowing them to talk about what happened, discuss this with them and simplify matters for them, and parents should use expressions and terms that are understandable to the child when explaining what happened to approximate the idea they want to communicate. But it is necessary not to force the child to talk about what happened, as this will not help him, but on the contrary, it may have negative effects.
Third: Sometimes children find it easier to talk to others than their parents. If there is an adult member of the family with whom the child is comfortable, there is no objection to talking to him about the explosion and his feelings about it. Also, specialized assistance is very important for the child to return to its normal state and reduce the harmful effects due to the persistence of the impact of the trauma for a long time, in case the parents deem it necessary.
Fourth: Parents should encourage their children to express the tragedy of the explosion by representing it with drawings and pictures and using colors if they want, or by writing if they can, this will help them express what they think of them.
Fifth: Parents can read with their children entertaining stories on various topics that give them joy and positivity, especially those that help and encourage them to express their feelings, and show the importance of expressing feelings to people close to them.
Sixth: Parents encourage their children to communicate with their friends through a meeting somewhere or through social media, to check on them and talk with them in the presence of the parents, and it is possible for parents to prepare, by prior agreement, a set of entertaining activities that spread joy in the hearts of children, and encourage them to participate in Play.
Seventh: The child can communicate with his teachers; The teacher gives him a feeling of safety and reminds him of school, the place where he spends quality time with her and his classmates. And if there is a possibility, the teachers can gather the students in a distance learning class, and carry out fun and relaxing activities for the children that give them joy, and they can talk about the issue of the explosion through stories, drawings, singing, etc.
Eighth: Parents must shower their feelings with their children at this stage. Love heals hearts and souls, so it is necessary to hug children, express their love and kiss them, as this gives them a feeling of love, safety and protection.
Ninth: Parents do some exercise with their children, which enables them to drain negative energy and replace it with positive energy.
Tenth: Parents listen with their children to some favorite songs and songs for children, or dance to their rhymes, which makes them feel happy and reduces the negative impact of the explosion on them.
Finally: Parents can ask their children to come up with ideas to help the people who were affected by the explosion, or they can provide assistance such as fundraising or help arranging, and providing this type of aid gives the child a feeling of positivity and contentment and keeps dark thoughts away from the explosion.
Al-Khatib ends her interview with Al-Jazeera Net with advice to parents that it is neither healthy nor correct to leave the children alone to forget what happened without helping them overcome this terrible shock.