Chechen children need psychological assistance

Although the war action made everyone suffer, the most vulnerable section of the population - children - appear to be the hardest hit. Theirs is one tight knot of medical, social and psychological problems because they find it much more difficult to sort out things in a complicated situation. And, for that same reason, they find it more difficult to cope with psychological stress. Psychologists are called to help them regain balance.

Two Ministries of Education - the federal and the Chechen ones - decided earlier this year to build a network of centers of psychological, medical and social assistance in Chechnya. The first thing they are planning to do is open one such center in Grozny and three such centers in other cities of Chechnya. They hope to open all the four centers next January.

The Russian Ministry of Health is about to launch a career advancement program for Chechen psychologists on the staff of the Grozny center. Teachers and medical workers with the first-hand knowledge of the Chechen children's problems will be invited to deliver lectures in Rostov-on-Don. Rostov-based psychologists will share information on some new methods of treating troubled children with their Chechen fellow-workers. A similar program will be launched by the Moscow-based Academy for Professional Advancement and Readjustment of Educational Workers. Didactic materials will be published for the benefit of those who are going to treat children in a post-critical situation.

Help centers will deal with orphaned children and those who find it difficult to study. The Rostov-on-Don program will qualify psychologists, teachers, medical and social workers to launch similar programs in different cities and villages of Chechnya.

The head of the Special Education Desk of the Russian Ministry of Education, Tatyana Volosovets, says Chechen help centers will function on a permanent basis.

Another thing the Ministry of Health wants to do is train experts in physical fitness. These experts will be able to share with Chechen teachers all there is to know about the past ten years of the ministry's efforts to prevent health problems.