A New Friend

Tina has a special friend. Her name is Tiki. Tina loves Tuki a lot. They are best friends.

Everyday, Tina and Tuki do things together. They eat sweet ripe banana..."yummy yummy" They go for a swim together... "splish, splosh, splash" They go for walks and play together on the beach. Tina and Tuki are happy all the time.

One day, a powerful cyclone hot Tina's island. Strong winds blew... "winds, wizzz, wizzz" Heavy rain fell..."splash, splash, splash" Thunder roared... "boom, boom, boom" Tina and her family stayed in their house to be safe.

The winds blew stronger. Tina was very afraid. Her father held her tight and said to her, "No one should go outside of the house until the cyclone is gone".

The next day, after the cyclone has gone and the place was quiet again, Tina and her father went outside to look for Tuki.

They could not find Tuki and Tina was so sad. She started to cry and her father cried with her too. From that time onwards, Tina was always sad. She did not want to eat. She did not want to play with other children. She did not even want to talk to her mom and dad.

After some days had gone by, Tina went walking on the beach. This time, she went by herself. While she was walking, she saw a girl sitting on the beach. Tina went over to her and said hello. “Why are you sitting here alone and looking so sad?” Tina asked. The girl told Tina about her cat that got lost during the cyclone. Tina was pleasantly surprised. She told the girl that she too lost her special friend Tuki during the cyclone.

After they finished exchanging their stories with each other, they walked on the beach and picked up beautiful shells and twigs. They had a great time together.

Before Tina went back to her house, she asked the girl to be her new friend.

This book was originally developed by participants in a workshop in Vanuatu after Cyclone Pam to help children deal with the trauma of cyclone and discuss their feelings and thoughts and find ways to better cope. Ministry of Education and Training in Vanuatu and UNICEF Pacific facilitated the development of the book and its distribution to children in affected areas.

Story: Alvaro Kiki Kuautonga Artist: Joseph John, Alvaro Kiki Kuautunga Group Work: Jocelyn Mete, Angelique Sese, Aileen Mete and Serah Lengkon, Astrit Dionisio Graphic Design: Jean Pierre Niptik, Julie Saurerwein ECCD and UNICEF Consultant : Barbara Kolucki