UNICEF tents help keep kids learning after Aceh quake

By Cory Rogers

Indonesian President Joko Widodo visits UNICEF education tent at the worst affected area from the 7 December 2016 earthquake in Aceh.   

Pidie Jaya, Indonesia - As thousands arose for predawn prayers last Wednesday in Pidie Jaya, Aceh Province, the ground beneath them suddenly began to thrash: Within minutes, 3,000 homes had been reduced to rubble, the roads between them split open in gashes.

According to the latest data from the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), 102 people were killed, over 300 injured and 85,000 displaced in the quake. A quarter of those killed were under the age of 18.

The effects of the earthquake go much further than the immediate impact however. Tens of thousands have lost their homes, but many others have lost access to services, to safe water, health and sanitation, not to mention education.

The story of Safira and Ali: Two unaccompanied children holding each other tight

By Kinanti Pinta Karana 

Safira, 8, at a temporary shelter for Myanmar Rohingya refugees in Kuala Cangkoy, North Aceh. She is one of more than 345 unaccompanied children in the refugee shelter who were part of a group of refugees that arrived in North Aceh on 10 May, 2015. (©UNICEFIndonesia/2015/Kinanti Pinta Karana). 

Kuala Cangkoy, Aceh province, INDONESIA - A field of dry grass greets me as I arrive at the fish port in Kuala Cangkoy, where 576 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar found temporary shelter after being rescued from the boat that also carried a group of Bangladeshi migrants off the Aceh waters on May 10.

Next to the tents and some medium-sized buildings, a number of cows roam the field, some gauge the trash pile looking for food.

On my way to a hall that has been converted into a sleeping quarter for male refugees I have to be careful, trying not to step on cow dung. The hall is empty because the male occupants are preparing for Friday prayer.

And then I hear a child’s laughter. I turn around and see a little girl putting biscuits on the face of a boy who is sleeping next to her.

Her name is Safira (names changed). She is eight years old and a world away from the life she deserves. The little boy is her brother Ali. He is 10.

UNICEF’s psychosocial counselling on air is already making an impact

By Naresh Newar

On 7 May, Chiranjibi Adhikari, sitting with his injured 6-year-old son, Kritagya, in one of two UNICEF-provided tents set up on the grounds at Dhading District Hospital in the town of Dhading Besi, headquarters of Dhading District, speaks with a psychosocial counsellor live via his mobile telephone, during a segment of the UNICEF-supported Bhandai Sundai (Saying Listening) radio programme. ©UNICEF/2015/Panday.

Dhadingbesi, Nepal – Chiranjibi Adhikari had never seen his 6-year-old son Kritagya so restless.

“He is always looking for attention,” the 45-year-old said, “He wasn’t like this before."

Kritagya, he said, has been traumatised ever since the 7.8 Richter scale earthquake struck Nepal on 25 April 2015.

“I don’t know how to control this boy,” said Chiranjibi. “He is extremely panicky and nothing I do seems to calm him.”

Building back better for a safer future

- Simon Nazer, Communication Consultant for UNICEF East Asia and Pacific

Earthquake drill at Muhammadiyah 1 Primary School in Banda Aceh. New school buildings were designed to be earthquake resistant.
© UNICEF Indonesia/2014/Achmadi

UNICEF colleagues and international agencies are now mobilising after Cyclone Pam’s devastating impact on Vanuatu. It's a painful reminder of the dangers many countries in this region face, and why it is so important everyone is fully prepared to deal with what ever comes.

To find out about UNICEF’s work in reducing the impacts of disasters, a few days ago I caught up with some colleagues in Indonesia and Kiribati, some the world world’s most disaster prone areas.

Typhoon Haiyan: How UNICEF is responding to children’s health needs

A volunteer measures a child’s upper arm circumference – a gauge of nutritional status
© UNICEF/Dianan Valcarcel Silvela

I have just returned from Tacloban. I am a UNICEF health specialist and travelled there as part of UNICEF’s global support to help colleagues working to restore health systems that protect children in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan (known locally as Yolande).

Even after my return home to Bangkok, I am still awed by the fury of the Typhoon, its massive destruction. I am also struck by the strength and the spirit of the people whose lives it decimated. Among the heaps of debris, there are signs that announce “we will rise again” and “homeless, roofless but not hopeless”.

Ready to go back to school

By Nuraini Razak, UNICEF Indonesia

All that 11-year-old Dani wants is to go
back to school and play with his friends.
© UNICEF Indonesia/2013/Rizal

Bener Meriah – Fitra Ramadhani, or Dani as his friends call him is a cheerful 11 year-old boy who went to a local school in his village.  About to start the sixth grade, he likes to play soccer with his school friends. His village Cekal Baru was badly affected by the recent earthquake.

Dani’s father is a coffee farmer who has three children and another three other family members to take care of. His family had just barely recovered from losing his grandmother, and now the earthquake hit them.

In Aceh Tengah and Bener Meriah district, more than 372 schools have been badly damaged. The local students are anxious about their return to school, with the new school year due to start next week.

Dani's school was a quick walk from his home, but now he does not know where to go. His classroom has been destroyed.

He now spends his days at UNICEF’s temporary learning centre. His desires are modest, "Our house had been damaged, and sometimes I still think about the earthquake, but all I really want to do is to go back to school and play with my friends," he said.