More than 1,000 children attend child friendly space in East Alor

On November 4, 2015, a powerful earthquake, measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale, jolted Alor district. In early December, Wahana Visi Indonesia (WVI) facilitated a training called Children Handling during Emergencies. As a result, the participants have established 31 Child Friendly Space (CFS) that are attended by around 1,000 children.

The rapid establishment of the CFS by education workers shows the enthusiasm of the programme, and the desire to support their students following the earthquake.

Lisa Herawati, WVI’s Alor Response Project Operation Team Leader says, "They have felt the benefit [of CFS]. After following the training, they are not afraid anymore, so they want their students to feel what they have felt.”

Most of the children feel happy with the presence of CFS in their environment. The presence of CFS helps students continue school lessons.

“Since the presence of Child Friendly Space, children are more enthusiastic to go to school, because they have opportunity to draw, to tell their own story, and to play with their teachers,” Yosefina Nanggula (31), a teacher of SDN Sidomang elementary school.

Written by Bartolomeus Marsudiharjo, Field Communications officer, Wahana Visi Indonesia