EIGHT-year-old Thaime Saintilus is a beautiful, but quiet, little Haitian girl. Since the January 12 earthquake this year, her father Wildor has been very concerned about her.

While she still plays and smiles like normal, he knows she is terrified of going into buildings, especially anything looking like a school. To him, this is because she saw buildings fall on and kill her classmates during the earthquake.

She, like her father, is now much happier sleeping outdoors. Both of them have been through many aftershocks and are more comfortable being outside rather than in their home, which was damaged during the earthquake.

Thaime and Wildor’s story is not unique. Wildor is a part of the Panos Caribbean Haiti office staff. Panos Caribbean, like many other organisations in Haiti, has been battling with how to work with the Haitians to reshape their lives after the magnitude-7.0 earthquake. One major, but still under-addressed issue is helping the Haitians to cope with the mental health issues that have arisen.

Depression, grief, post-traumatic stress, family separation, children regressing and messing on themselves, coping with newly acquired disabilities, loss of jobs, etc are just some of the issues that Haitians are dealing with. For its Haitian staff, Panos has done several things to help them including:

* Grants to help with immediate needs of food, clothing, etc; and

* Psychosocial support and counselling for staff.

“Psychologists and mental health practitioners are in very high demand in Haiti, so it is not easy to get the services of these persons. This is one area that definitely needs more volunteers and co-ordinated intervention,” said a release from Panos Caribbean.

The entity has also provided loans to help with the rebuilding of homes and held a staff retreat last month. It was at the retreat — held in the Dominican Republic and partly funded from the emergency fund Panos set up for Haiti — that Wildor reported one major step in Thaime’s healing process. On the second morning of the retreat Wildor was late.

When he came in, he apologised for his lateness and shared the following story:

“Last night Thaime asked me if there were earthquakes in the Dominican Republic. I was not so sure, but I told her no. I realised then that, for the first time since January 12 she slept right through the night. I did not want to wake her, so I waited until she was up before getting ready. That is why I am late,” he said.

Indi Mclymont-Lafayette, regional director for community, media and environment at Panos Caribbean, said she considered the retreat well worth the effort.

“For me, all the stresses and hard work in organising the retreat all paid off with that one story — a night of undisturbed rest for a beautiful child. There were several other stories of healing during the retreat, but for me this was particularly poignant,” she said in the release. “Jamaica also has its fair share of problems, but let’s not forget our Haitian neighbours and continue to help them in whatever way we can.”

As for Thaime, she is sleeping better since her return to Haiti and her fear of buildings is decreasing. She is now back at school — which is a tent.

— Panos Caribbean