In Focus

“Safe School, Safe Community” is one of the goals that Church World Service strives to achieve through its Disaster Risk Reduction Program in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam. The goal was set to be the theme for International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction or IDDR 2009 that is annually commemorated every second Wednesday of October.

CWS together with its partners and local radio conducted a series of activities and competition on 6-8 October 2009 in Kahju village, Aceh Besar district, NAD. Crossword puzzles, coloring, singing and dancing were among the activities. Quiz on disaster risk reduction or DRR for primary school students and community members was also designed to refresh their knowledge on disaster, disaster management and mitigation. “It is very good to learn about DRR so we know how to survive a disaster and it’s good to participate in this competition to remind us the things we have been taught,” said Badratin Nafisah, a student of Lamnga primary school who participated in DRR quiz.

Students doing DRR quiz during International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction commemoration
(Photo Credit: Lesvi Roselim )
A student participating in coloring competition during IDDR 2009 commemoration
(Photo Credit: Lesvi Roselim )

Collaborative work between the community, schools and the government is essential to achieve the goal. CWS therefore involved students of 10 primary schools, teachers, local government and community members to take part in the event. “It is very important to learn about disaster management and mitigation as disaster happens all the time in our country, like in Padang recently. Thus, when it occurs we are ready to respond it,” stated Desy Evianty, a teacher from Lamnga primary school.

The IDDR commemoration was aired live on 103,6 FM Jati Radio. As CWS’ partner in running the community based disaster preparedness radio program, Jati Radio also aired DRR talk show and quiz on 8 October 2009. The talk show involved DRR peer educators from Klieng Meriah and Kahju primary schools. “I am very proud to be part of this and hope that the community will benefit from listening to the show and learning how to survive a disaster,” said Masriani, a peer educator from Klieng Meriah primary school. Sejahtera Pekerti Indonesia, a national NGO concerned about disaster management and mitigation, was also involved in the talk show. Juniati, a representative of Sejahtera Pekerti Indonesia, pointed out that we should give priority to the voice of the community, like these peer educators and aim to empower the community to have courage to convey ideas that will eventually stimulate changes in behavior.

Indonesia is a country prone to natural disaster, but the impacts can be significantly reduced by developing a culture of disaster resilience through investment in building safer community and capacity building in disaster risk reduction. On this international day, CWS invites society at every level to build resilient schools and community to save more lives.