UNS, Lombok – Almost a year passed after an earthquake struct Lombok Timur (East Lombok), Nusa Tenggara Barat (NTB), but until now the affected community remains haunted with fear and have a prolonged trauma. This was expressed directly by the student of Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta, Khresna Wishnujati, who currently is conducting a community service (KKN) in the area.
Khresna, who is the Chief of Umbara Malaka KKN Team, mentioned that the effect of the Lombok earthquake in 2018 brought a tremendous psychological impact on the residents of Lombok Utara. He also said that the residents of Lombok Utara remain scarred to sleep in their house until now.
“We are focused in Dusun Setangi and Lendang Luar because apparently there are still quite a lot of residents who even do not dare to sleep inside the house provided by the government due to the fear of earthquake. Their daily activities, however, have recovered and run normally. Indeed, there are many residents who still traumatized and will be awakened from their sleep when there is little noise,” Khresna said to uns.ac.id. through a phone call on Tuesday (04/02/2020).
In fact, according to Khresna, there are many residents who choose to stay in small saung (traditional small hut) made from bamboo and remain scarred to move to the aid housing provided by the government.
In order to restore the psychological condition of Setangi and Lendang Luar residents, UNS students who are assigned to have a community service (KKN) in Setangi hamlet, Malaka village, Pamenang Sub-district, Lombok Utara, held a trauma healing on Sunday (02/02/2020) afternoon. The event is conducted in the PAUD Sederhana room and attended by dozens of residents from Setangi and Lendang Luar. On the event, the KKN UNS Umbara Malaka team is assisted by their colleagues from Bale Psychology NTB.
“As for the venue, we get help from the PAUD and is allowed to borrow their room in order to facilitate the mobilization of the residents with total participants approximately 20-30. We also collaborate with @bale.psikologi as the main speaker and mentor for the event. Some students from psychology major also help,” Khresna said.
During the trauma healing event, Khresna mentioned that the Umbara Malaka KKN Team is helped by the Psychoanalysis and Self-Contemplation material, which has been taught during lectures. The Umbara Malaka KKN Team in organizing the event together with Bale Psikologi NTB also collects the data on residents’ demographics, both in terms of age, and recent education history to implement appropriate methods in trauma recovery.
“Analyzing the residents’ demographics, which include their age and their recent education level, we also ask them about any other activities they attend previously and whether it affects them. However, the material we obtained from classroom lectures and the material presented today is significantly related, for instance, Psychoanalysis, Self-Contemplation, and yoga or calming the mind,” he said.
When asked about the continuity of the trauma healing program, the Umbara Malaka team mentioned that they will always monitor the response from the residents of Setangi and Lendang Luar, after attending the event on Sunday (02/02/2020).
“This depends on the response from the residents. Because after the earthquake the focus of trauma healing is only on children. This program is actually directly requested during the KKN team reception ceremony at the Bupati office. As for our program, we are focused on the adults, because if we mentioned the earthquake their expression and explanation show that they are still shaken,” he said. Humas UNS/Yefta
