Empower Pacific has been assisting 78 children with trauma counselling after they were injured in the bus accident at Banaras, Lautoka on June 21st.
The NGO says Peter Smith and his sister Cathy will be going back to school on Monday.
They were among the 78 students injured in the bus accident.
Even though the Smith siblings have physically recovered from the injuries they sustained, they are still trying to psychologically come to terms with what they experienced.
Being an NGO dominantly focused on child protection, counselling and social work support, Empower Pacific says it stands firm in its values and moral duty to reach out and assist the students and teachers who have been traumatised from the accident.
In the initial engagement after the accident, counsellor Vika Lumuni and Senior Counsellor and Clinical Supervisor, Reshmi Singh visited the school and had a brief session with the students and counselled the teachers.
Singh says some of the teachers were traumatised too as they went to the accident scene after hearing about it and saw the blood.
They also provided counselling to the school’s ancilliary staff who went to the accident scene to help the injured students.
Empower Pacific learned that the Smith siblings had burned their school bags because it was covered in blood and the sight of it caused unsettled feelings indicating the trauma that the children have towards the experience. They had not been attending school due to fears of catching the bus and also the lack of school resources needed for them to attend classes.
School supplies have also been arranged by Empower Pacific to help them to cope and attend school fully equipped.
They were given school bags, all stationery, lunch boxes, water bottles and raincoats.
Peter, who is in Year 7, and Cathy, who is in Year 3, received their new bags, stationery and other assistance at the Empower Pacific head office in Lautoka this week.
Their mother, Tamarisi Baravi Smith is grateful for the assistance rendered to her children and says they would now be able to cope and return to school from Monday.
Singh says Empower Pacific with the support of the Ministry of Education has taken the first step to reach out and provide support to the school’s students and teachers on the offset.
She says some students involved in the accident are reportedly suddenly waking up in the middle of the night feeling terrified while others are showing other signs of severe trauma.
Considering the situation, Empower Pacific has also assured the school of ongoing provision of long-term psychosocial support for the students involved in the bus accident, the general school roll and their parents too.
Empower Pacific also has plans to provide Psychological First Aid to the Banaras community and first community responders who had witnessed and assisted in the safety and care of the children moments after the accident had occurred. They believe that this incident has shocked the nation and will leave life-long scars in the children and individuals involved.
It is their hope that these children and individuals are cared for in terms of their mental health and they are able to cope with everyday life.
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