Feature: Foreign, local volunteers comforting children to relieve quake trauma

Several humanitarian and social welfare organizations, both foreign and local, have come up with creative ideas to engage those Nepal children terrified by a powerful earthquake that struck the country at midday Saturday.

As the child group is more vulnerable to disasters like earthquake, social workers are organizing different games to divert the mind of school-level children from shock to relief to combat possible psychological traumas.

Marianne Grosspietsch, a German national who has been running a social organization "Shanti Sewa Griha" in the capital, was conducting series of mind-games and music and dance performance shows Monday morning in Naxal ground.

"Children have been really disturbed by the massive earthquake which can lead to different psychological disorders. To prevent such, my team is here to talk and play with these innocents," Grosspietsch told Xinhua.

Around 100 children have gathered in the open air in this ground with their parents since the occurrence of the quake.

A group of 20 foreigners including 16 Germans and 4 Mexicans have been voluntarily working to help the children who were now playing guitar and singing rhymes and songs happily in the middle of the ground.

Paula, another German national who has been in Nepal for a visit since last month, told Xinhua on Tilganga " The children are very terrified by the earthquakes that occur time and again. We can see fear in their eyes and speech so it's necessary to comfort them in their style".

Most of the children have gathered in Tudikhel, Naxal, Sano Gaucharan, Dasarath Stadium and open spaces of different schools, colleges, government offices and organizations and nearby grounds, at a time when their new school sessions have just begun a week before.

In Nepal, the school session begins in mid-April, coinciding with the beginning of a Nepali new year. The government has already declared a week-long closure of all the education institutions in the worst-earthquake-hit districts including the capital.

Similarly, college students and youths of local clubs are helping each other and lending hands to help the children in different locations. They are offering water and biscuits to the helpless children.

Deepak Nepal, a grade 12 student, along with his 2 other friends, were playing local games with around 20 children in the open ground of his locality in Gathhaghar of Bhaktapur.

"If such deadly disaster had not hit our country, these children would be reading in classrooms right now. They are worried so we are trying to make them feel that everything is ok," Deepak told with Xinhua.

There are more than 1, 200 private schools and 300 public schools in Kathmandu valley. Endi