Supporting displaced parents and children, simultaneously.
In April 2021, La Soufrière volcano erupted in northern St. Vincent. Over 22,000 people were displaced, including over 6,600 children. People sought refuge in schools, churches, and community centers, and in private homes of friends and relatives.
IsraAID established 21 Child-Friendly Spaces (CFSs) in 17 communities from the worst affected areas. Many of the 620 children who attended had been out of school for over a year due to COVID-19, so we provided catch-up education, games, and sports, with integrated psychosocial care. We trained 50 facilitators, the majority of whom were themselves displaced, to run the CFSs; they also benefited from the structure and purpose of their role.
In order to ‘help the helpers’, IsraAID trained 23 social workers, school counselors, and healthcare workers from the Ministries of Health, Education, and National Mobilization in psychosocial support, in collaboration with the Institute for Disaster Mental Health at the State University of New York. They then supported over 170 frontline workers, including police, shelter managers, psychologists, church leaders, teachers, and government colleagues.
In order to ‘help the helpers’, IsraAID trained 23 social workers, school counselors, and healthcare workers from the Ministries of Health, Education, and National Mobilization in psychosocial support, in collaboration with the Institute for Disaster Mental Health at the State University of New York. They then supported over 170 frontline workers, including police, shelter managers, psychologists, church leaders, teachers, and government colleagues.
