20. Memorandum submitted by Help the Hospices
Re the question what should be the aims of humanitarian
assistance?
Help the Hospices responded to the tsunami by
providing grants and held a workshop on the response to the tsunami
last year. A copy of the workshop write up are attached[33].
Key considerations were:
1. The importance of "normalising"
following an event such as this, especially for children. By returning
as soon as possible to a daily routine, for example set hours
of work, religious services, or school hours, survivors are better
placed to deal with the psychological after-affects of a tragedy.
2. Importance of local knowledge. Many of
the local people in those areas affected by the tsunami had well-established
support networks, with close-knit communities and religious groups
offering support to their own in the weeks and months following
the event. Humanitarian assistance and agencies working in these
areas after this and similar events should be aware of and respect
the usefulness of these existing supports.
3. Agencies and NGOs need to communicate
a consistent message about what the public can do to help.
4. Aid agencies and professionals need to
deal not only with the immediate problems of food, shelter and
sickness, but also with the long-term and less obvious problems
of emotional and psychological suffering.
May 2006
33 Not printed. Copy placed in the Library. Back
| 
