With so many everyday heroes helping in times of disaster, many people have wanted to thank their saviours without always having the opportunity to be able to express their gratitude.
Recently children from St Anthony’s Primary School in Kingscliff got to say their thank yous to local SES heroes and soldiers from the Australian army who rescued them from floods and rising waters earlier this year.
Students at the school presented local SES members and representatives from the Army with cards they had prepared – a rare opportunity for rescuers to get the chance meet some of the children they brought to safety from the floods.
Stormbirds
Children from the school have recently taken part in Stormbirds, a program run by MacKillop Family Services, that provides an opportunity for children and young people who have experienced a natural disaster, to share their experiences of change and loss in safe and creative ways and learn skills for adapting and recovering. Stormbirds is facilitated by trained adult ‘Companions’.
During Stormbirds sessions at the school, it emerged that the children found great comfort in the calm and confident manner displayed by those who came to rescue them from the impending floods. When describing their emotions about being in such an unusual emergency situation, what stood out to the Companions was the ways children talked about how rescuers reassured them and helped them to feel safe.
Not scared anymore
One young boy who was rescued from the deck of his home with his family said that when he saw them come for his family in the boat, he wasn’t scared anymore. ‘Our heroes came to get us, put us in the boat and took us to our aunt’s house where we were safe’.
Another student said that when their family got to the rescue centre, they found a ball and the volunteers played football with them. ‘They were really good footballers!’
Professor Anne Graham, author of the Stormbirds program, is from the Northern Rivers area and Director of the Centre for Children and Young People at Southern Cross University, which was one of the evacuation centres in the area. Professor Graham understands how important it is for children to be supported in processing their emotions after being through a natural disaster and knowing who to reach out to when in any challenging times ahead.
Growing Stronger Together
A key part of the Stormbirds session is ‘Growing Stronger Together’, which supports children and young people to identify ways that coming through a natural disaster can strengthen communities. It’s important that they can name the special people, places and things that helped them through a difficult time.
‘Knowing there are people who continue to support them beyond the immediate crisis is critical for developing resilience and feeling positive about the future.’
MacKillop’s Fiona McCallum, who leads the team that support communities with Stormbirds, says the program provides a safe space for children and young people to give a voice to their experiences and learn appropriate knowledge, skills and attitudes to understand the changes brought about by a natural disaster.
Children react differently
‘We know too, that children will react differently following difficult life events and Stormbirds provides children with an opportunity to develop the skills to understand and talk about their reactions and feelings, and importantly, to understand that it is very normal to experience ‘big’ feelings after a disaster event.’
Ms McCallum said many children and young people ultimately demonstrate resilience after experiences such as disaster events. ‘Future coping is dependent on many things and in particular, social considerations including providing children with an opportunity to develop supportive relationships, be involved in decisions affecting them, have support from the wider community and have the opportunity to help and be involved.’
The children made thank you cards for the SES members and Army and presented them at a special school assembly.
‘The school celebration with the SES and Army is a wonderful celebration of the journey of Stormbirds,’ said Ms McCallum.
The Stormbirds training was funded by Healthy North Coast PHN Community Wellbeing and Resilience Program, along with our other change, loss and grief support training sessions for children and adults following natural disaster events.
