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Impacting Indonesian Communities Through Psychosocial Training
Bonnie Gillespie, Press Officer, American Red Cross Tsunami Recovery Program
Thursday, November 10, 2005 — BANDA ACEH, Indonesia — Sanusi Ismail is a busy philosophy professor in Indonesia’s Aceh province; he is also a survivor of last December’s tsunami in the Indian Ocean. Having lost four family members, Sanusi knows firsthand the difficulties faced by hundreds of thousands of his fellow residents.
Busy college professor and tsunami survivor Sanusi Ismail believes he can help Aceh communities recover from the after-effects of the tsunami by taking part in the psychosocial program. Psychosocial programming, following a disaster, involves engaging people in community-based activities that help individuals rebuild bonds and address concerns, which can enhance survivors’ resiliency and help restore communities.
(Photo Credit: Bonnie Gillespie/American Red Cross)
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When he saw a sign posted about working with the American Red Cross psychosocial support program and its efforts to help communities recover from the disaster, Sanusi knew he had found a way to take an active part in the ongoing healing process.
Now on his way to becoming a Crisis Intervention Specialist with the Indonesian Red Cross Society (Palang Merah Indonesia or PMI), Sanusi and 15 other Acehenese residents selected for the program are being trained by members of the American Red Cross psychosocial support team in the methods and implementation of this unique program.
“I think that giving psychosocial support is a good way to help the whole community recovery,” Sanusi said. “Everyone in Aceh felt this trauma of the tsunami, so it is good that the Red Cross has programs like this that include entire villages and people of all ages.”
The psychosocial programming of the American Red Cross evolved from the domestic disaster mental health approach that the American Red Cross began to use in 1989. Following a disaster, people engage in community-based activities such as singing, dancing, painting and traditional ceremonies that help individuals to rebuild bonds and address their primary concerns. Through this approach survivors can enhance individuals’ resiliency and restore communities.
In Aceh, the Indonesian Red Cross and American Red Cross staff worked together to adapt the training, curriculum and materials to address the post-tsunami conditions in Aceh and to fit with the local culture.
“The key to this training and the psychosocial support itself is knowing that the community already has the capacity within themselves for healing and recovery, and we’re simply supporting them in doing that,” said Sujata Bordoloi, Manager of the American Red Cross Psychosocial Support Program in Indonesia.
Sujata Bordoloi, Manager of the American Red Cross Psychosocial Support Program in Indonesia, helps lead the opening session of the Crisis Intervention Specialist training.
(Photo Credit: Bonnie Gillespie/American Red Cross)
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Through the comprehensive curriculum, students who participated in the Crisis Intervention Specialist Training will be well-equipped to train additional Red Cross psychosocial support volunteers at the local level. Later, local people who received the training can apply their new tools in their communities, which will have a lasting impact on villages and towns ravaged by the tsunamis.
“Survivors can lose hope and purpose after a tragedy, but when you bring people together in a way that helps restore a sense of community, it encourages them to take initiative and look toward the future,” Bordoloi said.
With the addition of 16 trained Crisis Intervention Specialists, the horizon for Red Cross psychosocial support efforts is growing rapidly. New staff and volunteers have already generated interest from the Ministry of Education and local teachers who want to involve schoolchildren in psychosocial programs. PMI volunteers are already leading psychosocial activities in 13 villages in Banda Aceh and 30 communities in nearby Aceh Besar district which are expected to assist more than 13,500 tsunami survivors.
“I am excited to take part in this program,” Sanusi said. “I know it will help the people here in Aceh, people just like me, my family and my neighbors.”
To learn more, visit the American Red Cross Tsunami Recovery Program section of Redcross.org.
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