[tweet_quote]The Balkan Flood Story is a reminder for humanity that the natural disaster can strike anytime and anywhere.[/tweet_quote]

One of the things I learned in America is preparedness, preparedness for whatever may come and having a family emergency plan handy for dealing with unexpected. [tweet_quote]Parents are almost always the best source of support for children in times of natural disasters.[/tweet_quote]  After the disaster, children are most afraid that the event will happen again, that someone close to them will be killed or injured, or they will be left alone or separated from their loved ones.

What do families need to know in order to create a reassuring environment for a child in the aftermath of a natural disaster?

Photo credit: VinothChandar / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)

1. Children’s coping with disaster is directly related to the way parents cope.

Children can detect adults’ fears and sadness. By taking steps to manage their own feelings and plans for coping, parents can make disasters less traumatic for children. [tweet_quote]Parents are almost always the best source of support for children in disasters.[/tweet_quote] Personal contact is reassuring. Physiologists encourage parents to hug and touch their children.

2.   This too shall pass

For those that were directly exposed to the disaster, reminders of the disaster such as high winds, smoke, sirens, or other reminders of the disaster may cause upsetting feelings to return. Having a prior history of some type of traumatic event or severe stress may contribute to these feelings. In most cases, depending on the risk factors, [tweet_quote]distressing responses are temporary[/tweet_quote], they too shall pass. [tweet_quote]Parents should encourage children and adolescents to share their thoughts and feelings about the disaster.[/tweet_quote] However, if a child has difficulty expressing feelings, parents should allow the child to draw a picture or tell a story of what happened. Creative writing, essays and poetry can also be useful outlets for emotional relief.

3.   Listen to what the child is saying

[tweet_quote]Parents should aim to clarify misunderstandings about risk and danger by listening to children’s concerns and answering questions.[/tweet_quote]  The key is to listen carefully to what the child is saying. If a young child is asking questions about the event, parents should answer them in a brief and simple way. There is no need for going in too many details but it is necessary to talk to children in language they understand.   Parents should calmly provide factual information about the recent disaster and share their plan for insuring children’s safety.

4. Limit the exposure to media

News coverage related to a disaster may elicit fear and confusion and produce anxiety in children. This is particularly true for large-scale disasters where significant property damage and loss of life has occurred. Particularly for younger children, repeated images of an event may cause them to believe the event is recurring.

If parents allow children to watch television or use the Internet where images or news about the disaster are usually graphic, parents then should be with their children to encourage communication and provide explanations. This may also include parent’s monitoring and appropriately limiting their own exposure to anxiety-provoking information. One of the suggestions from the American Academy for Pediatrics is for parents to consider taping of the media coverage so they can preview it and watch it along the children to help them process the information.

Our thoughts and prayers are with those who have been affected, as well as with the people working night and day with Novak Djokovic Foundation to restoring hope to the victims of the devastating floods in Serbia.

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As we grow older, it becomes clear that life is not always fair, and the tough breaks we get can seem too much to handle. The childlike optimism and hope telling us that “anything is possible” and that “things will get better because they have to” can diminish over the years, cease to encourage us and even be utterly silenced through despair.

I remember when the rains of a massive hurricane flooded my childhood home several years ago. The hopelessness and despair came rushing in as I saw material objects and memories accumulated over years washed away in a matter of hours. When the rain and tears stopped, and the ability to assess and address what had happened kicked in, I understood that in order for me to be able to move forward, I would have to join the facts of reality with the hope of my childlike faith. Not yet an adult, I tapped into the one thing that I knew could work. That thing was hope.

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What hope was that, exactly? The hope that, although material things were gone, the memories were still alive. The hope that even though the damage was great, my physical and emotional body, although a little bruised, were still functioning and I could rebuild. But most importantly, as I watched the children outside playing and making a scavenger hunt out of the rubble and refusing to be defeated, I experienced a newly restored hope that life in its fullest sense was still possible – even mandatory. Life in all its beauty and fullness certainly had changed, but it was not over, or to be lived less-than.

Photo credit: thejbird / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)

I was once more given this lesson of hope, very recently, as my childhood home was flooded by unexpected rains, this time with a tornado. It was challenging, it was saddening, but it caused me to reignite the hope of my childhood within me. I have more experience in being a young adult now than I did a few years ago, but I still have found that the hope of a child, no matter how implausible it may seem, is my greatest tool in facing the realities and challenges of life.

Photo credit: VinothChandar / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)

Taking stock of the damage wrought by the recent floods in Serbia — and throughout the world – I know that we all face tough breaks and sometimes seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

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May we all look, at such times, to the children around us to help reignite the hope of the child within ourselves.
May all the emotional, physical, and financial resources donated from far away and from our nearest and dearest strengthen our resolve to hope and strive for recovery.
May we face our challenges and be inspired to give back. May we choose to thrive and not just survive.
May our childlike hope and faith be ignited and multiplied, everywhere we turn.

Author: Leo S.

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Despite all the hardships, sufferings, tragedy and victims we have suffered, Serbia is not alone. Neighbouring countries: Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia were the first who offered and provided assistance in dealing with this natural disaster. When such things happen, our religion, nation and the language we speak become less important. There is no more division among us. We are all one, hoping that this unity and solidarity will last longer, not just now but in the following years as well.

Here are a few examples of fraternal solidarity and assistance that should be mentioned. Big thanks to all the countries in the region for helping us and supporting us. A contingent of the Army of Montenegro has headed this morning to Serbia from its base in Danilovgrad. They were followed by buses full of volunteers, organised by the Brotherhood of Orthodox Youth of Montenegro. Atlas company has sent 100,000 gallons of water, while the President of the Group personally donated EUR 50,000. Water plant Lipovo from Kolasin has organised an additional production in order to send urgent assistance to Serbia. Some municipalities also merged and sent financial aid, manpower, technology, food and blankets. Montenegro has opened a bank account for individual payments intended for those most affected by floods that have hit Serbia.

Croatia was among the first to respond to Serbia’s appeal to help. The Red Cross of the Republic of Croatia has launched the action to raise funds for the flood-endangered population in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia. Financial aid is being received by online donations on websites of Croatian Red Cross.   Croatia also provided two military transport helicopters with crews and personnel to help those affected by floods.

The Slovenian government sent an additional special civil protection unit to Serbia, together with 19 experts, military helicopter, eleven vehicles and two special pumps for water draining. The Macedonian government decided to send 75 special unit members as assistance to flood-hit Serbia.

The Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations immediately sent an Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft with 70 rescuers. The Russian rescue team also includes 20 divers with most up-to-date equipment. They took part in the rescue of citizens of Jagodina and surrounding villages, as well as in other flood-affected areas in our country. Two more planes of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations will deliver 100 tons of humanitarian aid to Serbia, including boats, equipment for water drainage and electricity supply, food and blankets.

The EU has sent to Serbia high-capacity drainage pumps and a team of experts tasked with providing assistance in the removal of consequences of the floods. Austria, Bulgaria and Germany were among the first to send assistance. The plan is to send helicopters. France has joined as well and sent 34 rescuers, ten motor boats and other equipment used in rescue operations. In addition, through its company in Serbia “Tigar Tyres” France has donated 1.2 million dinars to help the most vulnerable, and sent 5,000 pairs of rubber boots intended for residents of the flooded areas.

Israel has decided to help by sending medicines, blankets, raincoats, rubber boots and food.   Hungary granted five boats and helicopters for the rescue action and the Czech Republic granted assistance comprising a rescue team and a high-capacity drainage pump, as well as a boat and seven vehicles for various purposes. The United States donated $100,000 for the procurement of equipment and non-food items adequate for assistance to the flooded areas in Serbia. The Serbian people will never forget this!

We are and always will be inspired by good deeds and acts of kindness and respond in the same way whenever we are able to – whether it is to help a neighbour, friend, family, or a complete strange. Your little means so much to others and can change their lives.  

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