DSWD conducts stress debriefing for Bohol poison victims

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has dispatched 20 social workers to Mabini, Bohol to conduct stress debriefing for the victims of pesticide poisoning there.

DSWD Secretary Corazon Soliman said the procedure is vital for the school children so they could go back to their normal life.

"The social workers will first meet the parents of the victims and later on with the victims themselves. The debriefing sessions are very important because what happened has been very traumatic for the children and their families. The children saw their classmate die," she noted.

A total of 103 pupils of the San Jose Elementary School in Mabini town fell ill after eating cassava sweets contaminated with the pesticide Carbamate. Twenty-seven of these children died.

The DSWD gave assurances that the social workers have been properly trained to conduct the stress debriefing. The procedure, she said, would encourage the students to share their experiences to relieve them of emotional burden.

Soliman added that the debriefing would be undertaken through play therapy to suit the children’s needs. — Shiela Crisostomo