edu4DRR

Effective Education for Disaster Risk Reduction - Learning Matters.

Think, Pair, Share! Presentation to use if working with children and youth for IDRR Day!

I am going to be talking to 1500 students next week in school assembly about International DRR Day and how they can make a difference! I am including the PowerPoint and the files that you would need to show the video clips.

This is the PowerPoint file: Sharpe_IDRR_Day.ppt

This is the youtube clip to link to from the file ( I downloaded and embedded it in the PowerPoint)

The next file is on the fourth page of the PowerPoint and is a video clip I use as a 'What not to do in an earthquake...' The Washington DC Police Chief could learn from this....

What not to do in an earthquake! Video file - can also be found here: http://www.edu4drr.org/video/2114760:Video:1262

The PowerPoint should be self explanatory but the core idea is that children and NOT their parents may know more about hazards and DRR than their parents. This is something to celebrate! The final slide urges us all to:

THINK, PAIR, SHARE!

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Comment by Justin Sharpe on October 7, 2011 at 14:12: Brian,

Thanks for your comments! I understand that each community may have to adapt teachings to their own circumstances and that factors such as access to clean water, finances and habitat construction are barriers to what has been suggested. However, the PowerPoint specifically and rightly pointed out the folly of adults living in the richer north who despite education about drop cover and hold on, did not do so. This IS dangerous and unfortunately it is often adults that do not follow through on teachings such as this that is a continuing problem. This is also an example of poor modelling by adults that is then witnessed by children and youth and may also lead to poor decision making as a result.

There is often an over-reliance on engineered structures to save people (as witnessed in Japan) as well as an over-developed external locus of control by individuals who rely on others to think and act for them, hoping that fate, God or luck will save them. This presentation and the resources contained in this blog are perhaps better suited to countries that have good educational facilities as well as clever media campaigns and yet still do not act when faced with natural hazards. This is what often contributes to disasters in these cases!

Having said that, I saw a resource recently for use in Indonesia that was for kindergarten students which contained a song urging students to run outside if there was an earthquake. In the video, brick built structures were seen to fall outwards, which if very young children had run outside from, they would have been seriously injured. The fact that so many buildings are not built to withstand earthquakes and the inequalities in development, wealth and more contribute to the impacts of natural hazards on vulnerable populations cannot be tackled effectively by this website and its members, but good education can be!

Comment by Brian G. McAdoo on October 7, 2011 at 13:52: This time last year, a colleague and I were staying in a very poorly constructed house precariously perched on the side of a ravine in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. With pancaked houses all around us, I asked myself what I would do should the shaking start.

I found myself at a loss. To stay in place is not an option. The serpentine path we took to get to the flat between and underneath other non-reinforced concrete structures would take a good 30 seconds to negotiate in a panic. A leap from the terrace would have most likely killed us.

Preparedness kits are a great idea, but they are challenging in developing countries where batteries, clean water, first aid and food are scarce enough that they would not be saved for an emergency.

Each region needs to take into account their local situation when determining what to do during an emergency. One-size-fits-all approaches may do more harm than good.

Comment by Justin Sharpe on October 7, 2011 at 9:32: I have now SHARED my assembly and presentation with over 1200 students this week. If everyone on the site (250 of you - not including myself) could reach as many that would equate to 300000 students! Please pass this on and really 'step up' for IDRR day next Thursday! Anyone who uses or adapts these materials for their country let us know and tell us how many, so that we can see how far we can reach with a simple message!

Comment by Marissa Bernal Espineli on October 1, 2011 at 1:03: Thanks for the slides. I like the video clip. It is a powerful tool for teaching about the need for preparedness.

The International Institute of Rural Reconstruction in the Philippines conduct training for development professionals on Community Managed Disaster Risk Reduction. A field practicum where participants facilitate a participatory process of understanding hazard and the community vulnerabilities and capacities is the basis for developing their development and contingency plans.

Comment by Justin Sharpe on September 30, 2011 at 13:18: You could also use this video as an example of how children did the right thing in Japan recently after the earthquake and before the tsunami struck!