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hildren affected by Sunday’s riot in Sampang, Madura, East Java, are in desperate need of psychological counseling to help ease their trauma of witnessing the violence that led to the death of two Shiites and injured several others.

This was apparent in the writings and drawings of 64 children and 31 toddlers, who expressed their own fears of being attacked, having their homes burned and having to flee into the forest.

Zulfa, one of the children, wrote that she was scared of being beaten by someone, having her house razed to the ground and being attacked with sharp weapons.

Zulfa and other child victims are currently being sheltered in indoor tennis courts at the Sampang sports center together with adult evacuees.

A number of volunteers from the Sampang Child Committee are staying with them, trying not to let the children become lost in their thoughts.

“I need assistance from volunteers who are trained counselors,” the committee’s coordinator, Untung Rifai, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

He said he was overwhelmed with trying to handle dozens of children and help them with their psychological wounds.

He expressed his hope that counselors from Surabaya’s Airlangga University (Unair) Crisis Center would come to Sampang to lend a hand. “They already have the experience of accompanying riot victims in Sampit, West Kalimantan,” he said.

Some of the children, according to Untung, had also expressed their wish to stay in their own homes, return to school and live peacefully in Sampang.

The committee responded by providing a games schedule while the children studied on the floor of the sports center.

The committee has just received help from a volunteer teacher from Sampang’s north coast. However, there has not been any response yet from the local education office regarding the need of such volunteers.

“We need as much help from volunteer teachers as we can get. The children also need counseling,” said Untung.

Adult evacuees, numbering 277, also need counseling. Many of them have an empty look in their eyes and are subdued as they are not engaged in any activity, while the female evacuees still lack a number of things, such as diapers, formula and powdered milk, and other women’s necessities.

According to the volunteer coordinator at Ahlulbait Indonesia (ABI), Muadz Muhammad, his group was still making an effort to collect these items from donors.

The government, via the Social Affairs Ministry, has dispatched 25 volunteers, but it also needs to send counselors to deal with the widespread trauma. There is only one counselor at the shelter.

“I’m in dire need of counselors. The Unair Crisis Center should have responded, given their experience in Sampit,” said Muadz, adding that at least five counselors and dozens of volunteers were still needed to deal with the situation in Sampang.

Based on the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) data, around 60 people are unaccounted for. They are believed to still be in hiding in nearby forests, or staying with residents and relatives near Sampang.

“We are still looking for them. They should be encouraged by Shia clerics to come out and join the others,” said Fatkhul Khoir, a worker with Kontras’ East Java branch.

Members of the House of Representatives’ Commission III overseeing human rights are scheduled to inspect the scene of the incident and the temporary shelter on Thursday.

As of Wednesday, East Java Police had questioned 12 Shia followers from Karang Gayam subdistrict who were victims of the Sampang attack.

Previously, the police had questioned eight people regarding Sunday’s violence, bringing the total of those questioned to 20.

Of them one, identified as Roisul Hukama, has been named a suspect, according to Antara news agency. He is the Sunni brother of incarcerated Shia leader Tajul Muluk, and is alleged to have been behind the attack on the Muslim minority group.