Sri Lanka Cyclone: Tens of thousands of children in temporary shelters need mental health support
At least 86,000 homes were damaged in the landslides and floods triggered by Cyclone Ditwah on 28 November. More than 630 people were killed, and nearly 70,000 are still living in temporary shelters, including schools [1].
Hundreds of schools, particularly in the heavily impacted Central and Uva provinces, have also been extensively damaged by floods and landslides, and all schools across Sri Lanka have delayed reopening after a break for a week.
A school in Colombo is now home for hundreds of families who were forced to flee from their flooded homes. At the peak of the floods, 800 people, including more than 260 children, packed into classrooms. Wooden school desks have been pushed together into makeshift beds for those most in need, such as pregnant and breastfeeding women, but most children are sleeping on mats on the concrete floor.
Best friends Rashmi* and Shoba* are living in the school hall. There’s no privacy for the 17-year-old girls who are both preparing for their exams and love reading, especially Sherlock Holmes novels.
Rashmi* said:
“It’s so noisy here. It’s hot and crowded, so difficult to sleep - it’s so different from home.
“The water came so fast in the middle of the night that we only had time to grab a few clothes. I’ve lost all my schoolbooks and was only able to save a few notes.”
Save the Children, and partner organisation CCH (Centre for Children’s Happiness), have started providing mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) for children and adolescents at the school, using TeamUp , an evidence-based methodology consisting of structured play and movement-based activities provided by trained facilitators.
Through TeamUp, owned by Save the Children and War Child, children can reduce stress, start to feel safe, learn to deal with their emotions and build resilience through play with their peers. The series of sessions brings much needed structure and routine by supporting their emotional wellbeing in the aftermath of Cyclone Ditwah. The non-verbal group activities also give trained staff the opportunity to identify and refer children who need more specialised support [2].
Rashmi* said:
“[TeamUp] changed how I was feeling. Before I was thinking about my flooded home, but it took away those thoughts. I also got to know the other children here and make new friends.”
About 60 children joined the first TeamUp session which included activities with specific goals, such as dealing with anger or stress and interacting with peers.
Mayuran Thirunavukkarasu, Centre for Children’s Happiness, said:
“Children are afraid – there is so much uncertainty about what will happen next. Their emotional security was lost [in the floods]. They have lost everything that makes them feel safe and is important to them, like their schoolbooks and clothes.
“This is the worst disaster that many of them have experienced, so they have big feelings that they don’t have sufficient skills to deal with.”
Save the Children in Sri Lanka is working through partners to enable a locally led response to Cyclone Ditwah, including providing psychosocial support and play activities for children through TeamUp in child-friendly spaces in places where people have been displaced by the floods and landslides, and providing house cleaning kits.
Julian Chellappah, Country Director, Save the Children Sri Lanka said:
“Mental health support for children in an emergency is not a nice to have, it’s a must have. Children are under immense stress in Sri Lanka, and if they do not get the urgent psychosocial support they need, their symptoms can worsen and become long-term.
“Experiencing distress is a completely normal reaction to extreme, abnormal circumstances, like the floods and landslides triggered by Cyclone Ditwah.
“Children often find it hard to make sense of crisis – it’s vital that mental health and psychosocial support is a priority to help them cope with the challenges now, and in the weeks and months ahead.”
Save the Children has been working in Sri Lanka since 1974, contributing to both humanitarian and development needs across the country, on thematic areas of education, child protection, health and nutrition, vocational skills development, and child rights governance.
ENDS
[1]https://www.dmc.gov.lk/images/dmcreports/Situation_Report_at_0600hrs_on_2025__1765241453.pdf
[2] More information on TeamUp at https://www.savethechildren.nl/sites/nl/files/2023-11/scnl-TeamUp-digiflyer.pdf
CCH (Centre for Children’s Happiness) is an independent and impartial, nonprofit organisation investing in protective, peaceful, positive childhood and environment for children and young people in Sri Lanka.