It is most uncommon for a Tailor bird not to sing its tune. That was what has happened during the last week with heavy rain disturbing its flight movements.
I saw in the social media, a group of children in a relief camp, entertaining themselves with different performances. I noticed volunteers encouraging them to perform!
I watched their dull faces, feeble voices, and burdened body gestures. They related less and looked lost and disengaging.
The shock and grief after having been displaced from their homes and some having lost members of their family, following the landslide in Wayanad, is the normal phase of transition.
Most pre-school children process loss and grief in a temporal way, missing their toys, clothes, bed, pet, friends and those who took care of them. At three to five years, they miss what has been familiar and close to them, which formed part of their routine. So they would miss going to school, play outside their home and do the usual things they were used to. Their loss will be felt in an incremental way. It is in three to four weeks, the larger dimension of grief and loss would get expressed in their behaviour.
What they would need are one or two companions with whom they can be in regular contacts and conversations, which would help them to feel connected and accepted. If they have lost a member of the family, the sense of loss would become an experience gradually. It is good to observe their sleep behaviour, social communication, feeding habit, play orientation, and mood in response to different situations.
If they feel cared for by someone being available to engage in conversation, play, and narrating stories, they would feel insulated from fear overtaking them.
The fear of more loss afflicts some pre-school children! It is important to protect them from slipping into that abyss.
The earlier they can go to a school the better. The earlier they can be in a home to restore their routine, the better. While they are at a relief camp, a routine for the day, can be created with children of similar age clubbed into groups for group activities of interactive learning under the supervision of a volunteer familiar with children or a trained teacher. I wish there would be a space for activities of children in the relief camps!
The tailor Bird would soon sing, once the days are sunny and bright!
These children too would gradually recover, although the sense of loss and grief can be a recurring experience for two or more years.
M.C.Mathew(text and photo)
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