A week after the DANA disaster hit the Valencian Community, the wave of solidarity manifested in the most affected cities takes different forms. Some initiatives focus on a particularly vulnerable part of the population: boys and girls. At least 22 towns in the region are left without a single useful school or institute. Fathers and mothers, family associations and teachers denounce the fact that the youngest do not have safe places to go in the midst of the disaster.
Faced with this situation, some people have begun to organize to provide specialized child-centered care, which includes safe care spaces where children can be while their families participate in reconstruction work, coverage of their most basic needs – diapers, formula, children’s products. clothing, school supplies, certain toys, specialized psychological care and recreational or educational activities that allow them to escape for a few hours from the extreme situation they are experiencing.
Dana Kids, daycare places
One such project is Dana Kids, a grassroots initiative aimed at helping families by caring for little ones while adults carry out cleaning and rebuilding tasks.
Rubén Gadea, one of its promoters, says that the idea came to him last weekend and that it only took two days to put it into practice. “On Friday I was cleaning up the mud in Benetúser, and I thought it was important that someone take care of the boys and girls in a safe space so their families could continue cleaning, and also so that they can leave the most destroyed villages for a while. a few hours,” explains. On Saturday the project was launched and, with the help of two colleagues, Miguel Jiménez and Marta Castro, they found a space and thousands of volunteers: “We are currently 2,700 volunteers, including teachers, animators of free time and professionals in the sector, all of us.” with their crime certificate to build safe, legal and quality spaces for children,” explains Rubén.
L’Espai Rambleta, in Valencia (Bulevar Sur, corner Calle Pío IX, s/n, Jesús) gave them its space to organize sports, cultural and recreational activities for boys and girls from 3 to 12 years old. To participate you must fill out this form, but if a family cannot cover it due to lack of connection or because the tool breaks down, they can register directly at the center. For the moment, they offer this service every morning, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., but they are looking to expand the hours and meeting locations, particularly in the most affected cities: “People have been very involved, we we have a lot of space, a lot of material that they brought us and there are a lot of volunteers, but the families who are in the most needy towns cannot get them out of there because they do not have no way to get around. So we try to find safe places for the most needy populations so that they do not have to travel,” explains Rubén.
Carla’s tribe, “help from mother to mother”
Carla García is a perinatal psychologist and speech therapist. Through her work, she connects with mothers and families in the most affected areas. As soon as she learned of the scale of the disaster, she felt she wanted to do something to help pregnant women, mothers and babies affected by DANA. Through different messaging apps, they added people who could help, but the two tools they were using collapsed within hours amid the deluge of requests and offers for support. They are now working against time to set up a web platform to coordinate aid. They also do it with an objective of medium and long-term sustainability: “We want to build a website to cover the needs of mothers and babies, a place that is a refuge that offers long-term support to mothers. At the moment, with the emergency, there are a lot of dedicated people, but we will have to continue supporting mothers in a few months, while they need to rebuild their lives,” explains Carla on the phone.
For now, they are channeling all help through Carla’s La Tribu Instagram profile. Milk, medicine, diapers, strollers and rubber boots for children are among the most urgent requests. A professional support group has also emerged which offers its services in solidarity to those who may need them: midwives, gynecologists, child psychologists, teachers and caregivers offer their work to the most affected families. And even other initiatives were born which are no longer managed directly by Carla, but rather by some of the volunteers with whom she collaborates: “This project had small roots with other derivative projects, such as the exclusive volunteers for mothers and babies or the points where we only distribute equipment for children”, explains this perinatal psychologist. And he adds: “We want mothers and babies to continue to maintain the tribe and the support, to generate a network that Don’t forget the reconstruction process, a space where we can listen to their needs and launch initiatives to cover these needs.
A book to understand what is happening
Another specific need of children is to understand what is happening. Depending on their age, they may have difficulty understanding the extent of the tragedy, especially if they suffered close losses. You must therefore make an effort to explain the situation to them so that they can begin to assimilate it. With this goal, history was born in record time. Valentina and Danaa children’s story that explains, through the voice of the protagonist, the girl Valentina, what has been happening these days in the Valencian Community. It sends a message of hope, of unity in the face of tragedy, and seeks to deactivate some of the most common childhood fears. The book is openly displayed at this link and can be distributed freely. Shortly after its publication, various professionals offered to translate and illustrate it. It is currently available in seven languages and even in audiobook format.
Its author is Elena Santamarta Rodríguez, educator and future Primary teacher. He says that the idea came to him a few hours after DANA passed by. “I work with girls and boys in early childhood and primary education. When all this happened, one of the little ones started talking about how he saw pictures of what happened but didn’t really know what was happening. At that point my head started thinking about how to explain to him and the others what was happening and what a DANA is, and that’s when I realized he There were very few resources willing to work in situations like this. The same day, I started thinking about how to create a resource that could meet this need and after writing, erasing and drawing, “Valentina and the Dana” was born, he says.
NGO campaigns focused on children
In addition to popular initiatives, various third sector organizations focus their assistance on boys and girls in the most affected areas. The Children’s Platform, a network which brings together more than 70 organizations, has created a directory where the specific campaigns of different NGOs are listed. Among the best known are Save the Children, which collects donations to provide urgent aid to people in need, especially children; UNICEF, which is also appealing for funds to restore access to education and offer psychological support to affected children; o Educo, which works in coordination with local entities to provide psychosocial support to children.
