12:36 PM |
There are various fundraising activities in Brisbane by the Samoan community to send assistance to the affected communities back home.
Its quite moving to see school children invoved in such activities to assist their relatives back home. When children are involved, it makes us adults dig deeper into our pockets to contribute and bring a smile on the face of those devastated children in Samoa.
yehi
On Mon, Oct 26, 2009 at 7:12 AM, Donna Hoerder <dhoerder@unicef.org> wrote:
yehi
Tsunami toll on Samoan pre-school children the 'forgotten chapter'
APIA, 25 October, 2009 – The UN Children's Fund is urgently supporting the
return of tsunami-affected children to pre-school in what may be a
forgotten chapter of Samoa's recent disaster.
The devastating tsunami that struck Samoa on 29 September damaged or
destroyed as many as 16 pre-schools, leaving young children with few
options for their continued early childhood education.
UNICEF is providing technical and logistics support to the National Council
on Early Childhood Education in Samoa (NCECES) – a non-governmental
organisation with membership of groups and organisations such as church
groups and private charities who run pre-schools – to undertake a rapid
needs assessment. The assessment will determine the level of destruction
to pre-schools and what assistance is required to get affected children
back to pre-schools as quickly as possible.
UNICEF Emergency Education Specialist, Phuong T. Nguyen, says that
preliminary results from the assessment indicate the tsunami completely
destroyed 11 pre-schools and badly damaged a further five. An estimated 600
children are directly affected.
"The destruction of pre-school infrastructure that I have seen is
heartbreaking," says Ms Nguyen.
"In some cases the classrooms and other facilities have been totally washed
away, leaving just the crumbled concrete foundation behind. At other times
buildings are so damaged as to be completely unusable.
"The typical preschool in Samoa has one classroom, with a water tank and
toilet facility, with two teachers serving 35-40 children aged
two-and-a-half to 5 years-of-age.
"One school I visited had just installed playground equipment three months
before the tsunami, but all of this is now gone. Picture books and art work
crafted by young children lay amidst the rubble of their former classroom."
Ms. Nguyen says the tsunami not only destroyed classrooms and other
facilities, but also took away the right of hundreds of young children to
an early childhood education.
"Early childhood education is vital for young children. It supports the
overall development and well-being of children so they can fully develop
their thinking, language, motor, emotional and social skills. Children
deserve the chance to get the best start in life and to develop to their
full potential."
"It is well established that children who have successfully participated in
early childhood education are able to transition well into primary school,
where they are better adjusted, attend school regularly and do not repeat
grades.
"The effects of not being able to go to pre-school reach far beyond the
individual lives of children and affect families, communities and the
development of the country as a whole."
Ms. Nguyen says that in the face of the overwhelming needs such as shelter,
water and sanitation generated by the tsunami, early childhood education
needs were given a lower priority. However, this should not be the case.
Similar to the importance of education for older children in the aftermath
of a disaster, early childhood education provides young children with a
sense of normalcy, psychosocial support and protection against harm.
Education, be it for older or younger children should be an integral part
of any humanitarian response.
"But now that the emergency response is starting to move into the early
recovery phase, it is essential that the needs of young children for
education and development do not continue to be overlooked."
Ms. Nguyen says the pre-school assessment report is expected early this
week, after which UNICEF will work with partner agencies to mobilise the
resources needed to begin the urgent work required to get young children
back in school, where they may again be supported with their social,
cognitive, emotionally and physical development.
In the longer term, UNICEF will advocate for the Samoan authorities to take
a more active leadership role in early childhood education. Preschools are
currently run at the community level, often in conjunction with
communities, churches and other charitable organisations.
For more information, please contact:
David Youngmeyer
Media Officer
Cell: +64 21 851 263
Cell: +685 772 1749
Phuong T. Nguyen
Emergency Education Specialist
Cell: +685 772 1753
(See attached file: Tsunami toll on Samoan pre-sch children.doc)
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pacific islands media association
pima.nius@gmail.com
aotearoa, new zealand
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