Psychological First Aid in Action : MERCY Malaysia and Psychology Students Bringing Healing to Cebu’s Quake-Affected Children

Relief goods, medical response, and temporary shelter are given to the earthquake victims after the 6.9 magnitude quake in Northern Cebu. But what should be included, as an intervention for the calamity's consequences, in terms of the victims’ mental health? Especially to children and even adolescents who have encountered such a traumatic event?

A Psychological First Aid.

MERCY Malaysia, a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides relevant medical response, disaster intervention, and health-related development to vulnerable communities, especially those struck by calamities in Malaysia and abroad, visited San Remigio Camp for psychological and welfare responses mainly to kids 1–12 years old. In Northern Cebu, only our school, CRMC, has the program of BS Psychology, and other universities offering the same program are situated only in the South. Hence, our department was the only one near the camp who could volunteer as facilitators for Psychological First Aid.

Our program and the organization of our program, Psych Buddies, were contacted by MERCY Malaysia and DSWD of our town to visit the kids in the San Remigio Camp who were residing in the area after the evacuation phase. Since most of them lost their homes, they built tents all around the camp, but I wasn’t able to roam around because I had been busy with the kids. DSWD, NGOs, NDRRMC, and other responsive organizations are also present in the area and they will stay in the camp until this situation ends. I also saw carts earlier giving free breakfast to the victims, and from that, I can infer how responsible these private organizations are in meeting the needs of the people.

Almost 400 kids are remaining in the camp until now, the 7th day after the quake, and you can see them playing around the camp with the feeling of safety as they know safe people are around them. The area is almost crowded except for the central part, which was utilized by different organizations.

When I arrived, a tent with a tarpaulin written Children & Women Space was already prepared for MERCY Malaysia and psychology volunteers. In fact, when my classmate and I arrived, professionals from MERCY were already there waiting for us, and we were welcomed warmly. The language barrier just made it hard to converse with them, but we managed to communicate by putting effort into our language.

Without further ado, we joined the preliminary activity, which was a short singing session to get to know the kids and mentors in the tent. Proceeding after was a physical stretching to stimulate the brain and body of the kids before our first activity, which was Draw-All-You-Want, allowing the kids to draw anything on their minds without our assistance. We just let them draw whatever came to their minds to know how they were feeling during the day, and in the end, a psychologist from MERCY would assess our reports.

Right after, we did the activity by grouping the kids into five groups, and each of us would lead five kids in a group throughout the activity. The MERCY Malaysia individuals provided us with coloring materials in a pouch and sets of bond paper for the kids. I instructed them to draw anything they wanted and later submit it to me. Art is very essential in psychology since there are tests integrating drawing for the clients, and the assessment will be brought out from there.

It was a good start because building rapport between me and the kids was easier than I imagined. I just had to be welcoming and right in words when talking with them.

The kids started drawing as soon as they received the materials. I let them write their names first and their ages before they drew figures. They made the activity colorful and meaningful by illustrating good settings and places. Most of them drew houses, which could be a manifestation of their desire to go back to the ordinary lives they had before the calamity. Some drew volcanoes since they knew a volcano erupts with the earthquake, while some drew mountains.

Some kids were struggling to draw or to start, but a little bit of help would drive them to draw the figures. We just should not draw for them to maintain the reliability of our reports.

These are the drawings of the children after the activity. We hung them above the tents for display like a fair, and the kids were very amazed at the drawings of their fellow friends. Some would shout and tap me to let them know their drawings were already displayed, and I could see how proud they were of their crafts.

After the activity, we finally had an orientation for the Psychological First Aid with MERCY Malaysia. During the orientation, we were told of the objectives and parameters of the PFA and how we should conduct it for two weeks. This PFA will last for two weeks, but after week one, MERCY Malaysia would leave the camp to visit another, and another foreign organization would take over to lead us. Important things I learned during the orientation were how we will acknowledge the children during this time and what to say if they initiate conversing about the traumas they have from the earthquake. But for me, I will try my best not to lead that conversation and just ask them how they feel every day. Kids are very sensitive in this situation, and I don’t want to recall nor let them carry again the traumatic memory.

We were also reminded to take care of ourselves first since they heard some of us didn’t eat breakfast, and not caring for ourselves will not let us carry the objectives properly, for we have the saying, “You cannot give others what you do not have.”

Our last activity for the morning was the planning for the program we will conduct every day for the children, and we were divided into two groups — for below 6 years old and for 7–12 years old. I immediately decided to go for the 7–12 years old since they already have awareness of what is happening, but since they are capable of resisting situations, like our games, we critically decided which activities we will consider that can capture their interest and attention.

I thought the planning would be finished in the camp, but news came that volunteers from St. Paul University and the University of Cebu would visit the area together with other NGOs, so we had to leave the area immediately since they would handle the children themselves. We were told to go back tomorrow morning and that we would handle the kids until Sunday this week.

We finished our planning at the Mental Health Facility behind the Municipal Hall where our dean reports during weekends. Tomorrow, I will update you on how the second day went, and I hope we can start the practical Psychological First Aid training tomorrow after the activities. This PFA initiative is an opportunity for us to develop our skills in responding to the psychological needs of the victims soon. I will make reports about my growth in this training and share with you my insights.

I am so glad to have this initiative in our camp and in other camps around Northern Cebu since some kids need important assessments. MERCY Malaysia is so relevant this time, and I am amazed by their professionalism and passion in helping the children here.