Efterhånden som det fysiske hjælpearbejde efter jordskælvene i Haiti begynder at vise resultater, træder de mere langsigtede psykologiske virkninger af katastrofen frem.
Hjælpeorganisationer forsøger at indarbejde Haitiansk kultur, religion og tænkemåde i den psykologiske førstehjælp, skriver den FN-baserede portal MediaGlobal.
Jordskælvet d. 12. Januar 2010 har ikke blot smadret huse, veje og broer.
Tabet af familie, lemmer og levebrød har efterladt dyb, menneskelig ruin.
KULTUR VIGTIG
(direkte fra MediaGlobal)
The organizations that are providing relief are assessing how best to handle treating the mental health of the Haitian people, and taking into consideration the Haitian culture.
Monika Oswaldsson, of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), described to MediaGlobal how Haitians are coping in Port-au-Prince.
– [The Haitians are very religious, Oswaldsson said.
She explained that to deal with the trauma they often pray, relying on their own customs.
Oswaldsson also noted that the solidarity the Haitians are showing is another way of coping.
– They gather together, the families, the neighbors, and they stay in the same area and help each other out as much as they can, she added.
SAMARBEJDE MED LOKALE
To have a greater insight into the Haitian psyche, Oswaldsson says, MSF is working with three teams of national Haitian psychologists.
They are providing counseling for patients and working with MSF staff to relate how the earthquake is experienced culturally.
LANGSIGTET STRATEGI
Understanding how Haitians are dealing with the earthquake in a cultural context is part of the long-term strategy that is being compiled by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), which includes both the Word Health Organization (WHO) and MSF.
IASC administered the “Guidance Note for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support for Haiti Earthquake Emergency Response” (MHPSS).
Noted in the MHPSS is that professionals should only go to Haiti if they have knowledge of the Haitian context or experience in disaster response outside their own cultural context, or if they receive a basic orientation on the context including the situation in Haiti before and after the disaster.
