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When their communities were devastated by tsunami and cyclone, local people in Sri Lanka and Papua New Guinea asked for help to establish kindergartens.

They wanted their young children, especially those orphaned by the disasters, to have a stable life and to find some outlet for their emotions.

Little children in Galle in southern Sri Lanka and Poro in PNG are now getting a good start in life thanks to Graduate Women WA (formerly Australian Federation of University Women WA) and the International Council of Women.

Teachers from the preschools are in Perth for a month, visiting preschools and kindergartens, including the kindy at UWA , gathering ideas for their centres and attending teaching seminars with UWA graduate and early childhood expert, Dr Dawn Butterworth.

Lalani Weddikkara, a member of Graduate Women WA , was holidaying in her birthplace of Galle in Sri Lanka when the tsunami hit in 2004, killing 65 per cent of the children in the south and leaving most of the others orphaned.

"I immediately took leave from my job at Curtin University and stayed there three months," Ms Weddikkara said. After initially distributing food, medicine and bandages, she began helping women to regain their livelihoods with cooking utensils, sewing machines and fishing boats, funded privately and by St Michael's Anglican Church in Mount Pleasant.

"We set up a preschool and did lots of drawing and play activities with the very young children to help them get over their traumatic experiences," Ms Weddikkara said.

At a meeting of Graduate Women WA , Ms Weddikkara was telling then- President Hilary Silbert about the school and Ms Silbert decided the group should raise funds to support the school and help to train its teachers, which it has been doing for several years.

Asanka Bodaragama, the head teacher at the Galle preschool, was given a scholarship by the Graduate Women to come to Perth for professional development. She is learning new skills to take back to the kindergarten she runs for 42 children, whose uniforms and food are paid for by the church in Perth.

A similar story was unfolding about the same time in Papua New Guinea.

In 2005, Dr Butterworth had met PN G preschool teacher Olivia Bunari at the International Council of Women's world assembly in Kiev.

In 2008, after her village was destroyed by a cyclone, Ms Bunari asked Dr Butterworth to help her set up a new school to take care of the children in the wake of the disaster. Dr Butterworth Healing starts with play went to PN G, taking supplies, and trained eight volunteer teachers.

"There is no money to pay these young teachers, so as an incentive, we have brought three of the hardest-working teachers to Perth for cultural enrichment and professional development," Dr Butterworth said. Their trip is funded by the World Organisation of Early Childhood (WA ) and supported by the National Council of Women WA .

Joseph Aripa, one of the PN G volunteers, has been photographing and drawing playgrounds in Perth kindergartens and preschools, so he can build something similar when he returns to Poro. He has installed solar panels at the school so children can watch videos on televisions donated by Dr Butterworth.

His colleague Salina Sawaraba, is excited about taking dyes and colours back to Poro, for water colour painting and colouring play dough.

"The children have little more than sand and sticks to play with," Ms Silbert said. "It is difficult to send equipment because you can only get to the village on a light plane, so we are restricted in what we can give them."

Asanka, from Sri Lanka, and the three teachers from PNG visited the School of Psychology's Child Study Centre, as part of their professional development with Dr Butterworth.

Published in UWA News , 16 April 2012