Stressors on Children during the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami

On March 11, 2011, great devastation occurred in Japan with a Earthquake and Tsunami nearly destroying it all.  Families and children were uprooted from their homes and left homeless.  Many children left alone with no families.  This can cause many emotional stressors for everyone.  What happens to Japan's children?  What is being done to help the children? 

Children who were involved in the earthquake and tsunami may suffer post tramautic stress syndrome.  Children can have problems sleeping, eating, nightmares, and anxiety to name just a few.  The main focus  is to help children cope with these tramautic situations.  One organization that does this is the Children and War Foundation.  Children and War has developed several group psychological assistance manuals which reduce traumatic symptoms and help children cope after disasters (http://www.childrenandwar.org/2011/03/rescue-and-acute-help-first-priority/).


 
picture retrieved from www.cooperaciondesarrollo.com on bing images.

Save the Children foundation is another organization that is helping the children of Japan in their time of need.  The Save the Children Foundation is taking donations to help purchase back to school kits for children who lost their supplies in the disaster this is to relieve one type of stress http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6620995/.

There are many organizations out there helping children who are going through stressful times.  As a country, and a friend we need to maintain a certain bond in helping children cope with these stresses.  We have one common goal and that is to see children grow and develop without stresses.  When certain stresses arise we bond together to alleviate them to the best of our abilities.

Natural Disaster Stressors (May 2010 Flooding)

These are pictures from my apartment overlooking our town that is soon to be engulfed completely with flood waters.  To explain how deep the flood waters got, I ask that you look at the bottom picture.  To the left hand screen to the window that is lit up.  When the waters finally came with full force it was in the middle of the window.  If you look on the right of the screen at the corner building you could have only seen the top of the door.  I watched a dumpster float down the street along with other various large objects.  My two children and I watched it come from both directions.  I knew that I was safe because I was on the second floor or at least I hoped so.  However, my van was not so fortunate.  I kept asking my children not to stand near the windows because I was afraid they would end up seeing a dead body float down the street and was not prepared to explain that to them.  In the pictures you can see the fire department evacuating people in lower level apartments.  My phone was ringing off the hook my mother was terrified for me.  Everyone was calling me wanting a description of what the town looked like.  I was trying to hold my own and assure my children that we would be alright.  I am terrified of water and the only thing I clung to was that I lived on the second floor and water could not get my children or I.   My brother Adam is on the fire department and was evacuating people that night.  My mother sent him to check on us, I stuck my head out the window and he yelled up asking if we were alright and if we wanted to go to mom's house I said, "No."  When I saw him step out of the fire truck, I was relieved but scared the water was waist high on him and he is a little over 6 foot tall.  The water was all the way up the middle of the fire truck's grill.  The firefighter driving the fire truck had to back the truck out of the street and up the hill to battle the rushing waters.   I think last facebook post I made before phone service went out was "What used to be a street in front of my apartment is now a river"  that was at 11:00 p.m.  I went to bed with flood waters still rising and I had resigned myself to the fact that my van was gone and possibly my children and I if the waters did not start going down.

I awoke the next morning with my father calling on his cell phone telling me I needed to come down and check my van out.  I walked down the steps and began to cry we were in a war zone. My father said, "The daycare is gone, everything is gone."   I checked my van out and luckily the flood waters had only got into the front part of the van with the way I had parked the building had shielded much of the flood waters.  I came back upstairs.  I then began preparing my children for what they would see when they went outside.    My children and I drove up the street all of the banks, post office, fire department, daycare, gas stations were covered in a slick brown mud and debris.  As a town we were shut off from the world, we couldn't get our mail, no phone service, some had no power, no money both of the banks in town were flooded.  The only thing you could use in town was cash because credit and debit card machines were all down.  There was only one gas station on the other end of town for people to use.  People had come together and began the long process of clean up.  I must say thank goodness no lives were lost just alot of personal belongings.

For weeks on end, people were scared of  what would happen if it rained again.  The town had a big 4th of July celebration clean up was done for the most part.  A week after the celebration the town was struck with flooding for the second time in two months.  What flooding had missed the first time it got in the second time around.  This flooding was a surprise, everything that was cleaned up got hit again as well.  I did not even know it had flooded until my Aunt called and said, "Amanda you need to look out your window," it had flooded in the middle of the night while we were asleep.  I began to cry my children were asking why mommy. I said we flooded again I don't know why.  My children were very upset.  It was hard enough to tell my children their daycare was gone the first time but to tell them again a second time was very upsettling. 


Today, we keep a close eye on the weather if it looks like it is going to flood people begin to move to higher grounds and take precautions.  I guess it is better safe than sorry.  From a personal standpoint my children are still not very sure about floods but they do ask everytime it rains if its going to flood again. 

Overseas WIC Program

WIC is offered for Miltary families.  They have to meet the same requirements as they would in the United States.  This is really interesting to me, I always wondered how it worked for our military.  I am glad to see we offer assistance for them. 

The following link is brochure that pertains to the overseas WIC program:
http://www.tricare.mil/mybenefit/Download/Forms/WIC_Overseas_Flyer_11_508.pdf

Here is another link that provides interesting information:
http://www.tricare.mil/mybenefit/ProfileFilter.do;jsessionid=NPpY1nKX1fQhSX1wPCJ6q1yLQV7cDK1tk7T6lBNft4jcmptnJKJp!434107299?puri=%2Fhome%2Foverview%2FSpecialPrograms%2FWICOverseas

The Department of Defense (DoD) offers the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Overseas Program to eligible overseas beneficiaries. The WIC Overseas Program provides participants and their families with important benefits, including:

••Nutrition and health screenings
••Nutritious food
••Tips on how to prepare balanced meals
••Access to other resources that help you and your family lead   healthier lives

Nutritional Food Vouchers (WIC)

WIC (Women, Infants, and Children)
WIC provides Federal grants to States for supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, and to infants and children up to age five who are found to be at nutritional risk. (http://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/)


Wic is program that intrigues me.  My children were on WIC.  WIC is a good program however, there are many downsides to it.  When children turn five they are dropped from the WIC program.  Which leads me to question do children who turn 5 not deserve proper nutritional supplement any more.  With the way the vouchers are made anyone can cash them. The area that I currently reside in drugs are very bad and people trade them for drugs just as they do their food stamps.  I quit the WIC program because they do not provide soy milk to children with allergies, and my son is on soy milk.  However, the WIC program did provide soy milk when he was an infant.  This past October I found out that they now provide soy milk for older children but it is not a kind my son will drink.


With WIC you can get milk, eggs, cheese, cereal, wheat bread, 100% juice, and peanut butter, etc.  You can now get fresh fruit vouchers.  At proper times throughout the year one can get farmer's market vouchers. 

Japan Births

In doing research, I find that birthing in Japan is quite different than in the United States.  While they have hospitals, birth clinics, doctors, midwives, etc. just as the United States.  Child birth is viewed differently.  All of the websites and articles that I have read indicates woman do not take painkillers during birth because it is seen unnatural.  Japanese doctors try to avoid c-sections unless there is an emergency because they are afraid something could happen during the procedure.  Midwives were used a long time ago but now nurses are trained with the same skills.  When I first found out I was pregnant I knew that I wanted a Certified Nurse Midwife to deliver me.  I felt that midwives are more personal than doctors.  Unfortunately, my midwife did not get to deliver me either time.  With my children, I opted to have natural child birth because I have a pain tolerance.  I also did research on medicine taken during pregnancy and I was afraid on the side effects it could possibly have on my children.

Japan Birthing Technique

While researching information on Japan birthing techniques.  I found this interesting website from one family's experience in giving birth in Japan.  Here it is:

http://www.globalcompassion.com/japan-birth.htm

My Personal Birthing Experience

Anyah Brielle Tuhy’s Birth (8lbs 7oz, 21 ½ in.)

I remember like it was yesterday.  It was Wednesday, February 9, 2005; 8:00 a.m. in the morning.  I thought I was in labor my husband took me to the hospital.  My CNM said that I was only dilated 2 and that I was having early labor contractions.  She ordered the nurse to give me morphine and sent me home.  I slept the entire day due to an allergic reaction that I had to the medication.  At approximately 7:45 p.m. my water broke and felt the urge to begin pushing the hospital was 15 minutes away and it had started to snow.  My husband and I went back to the hospital, by the time we reached the hospital it was 8:00 p.m.  When I got to the ER we told the receptionists I was in labor they told me to have a seat and wait because I was not in labor.  I told the receptionists they needed to hurry because I was having pressure and I was pushing.  Finally, they walked me not pushed me in a wheel chair to labor and delivery.  By time I got up stairs, my daughters head was crowning the nurses had enough time to strip me naked get the doctor and my daughter was born at 8:18 p.m.  The doctor on call had to deliver me because my CNM did not have time to get to the hospital.

Gavynn McClain Tuhy’s (8lbs. 7 oz., 20 ½ in.)

             I began having contractions about 7:30 a.m.  I woke my husband up and he got our daughter dressed.  We dropped her off at daycare and went straight to the hospital.  I felt the urge to push and my water broke in the SUV on the way to the hospital.  We arrived at the hospital at 8:00 a.m.; they wheel chaired me up to labor and delivery.  By 8:12 a.m., I had a beautiful baby boy on December 21, 2007.