INDIA
Equipping children living in hostels with the skills to handle disaster situations
Equipping children in India to handle disaster situations
As part of disaster risk reduction in the community, FOCUS has identified the need to sensitise children to the occurrence of disasters. Children living in age-old schools and hostels are especially vulnerable to such situations and therefore require early training and education. To this end, FOCUS, in collaboration with Aga Khan Education Services’ hostel management team has created a 2-phase disaster preparedness programme for implementation in 10 hostels in Gujarat. The first phase raises awareness of possible disaster situations and provides learning on precautionary measures and minimising impact among children, staff and management. The second phase includes forming a FOCUS Initial Response and Safety Team (FIRST) among the older children in the hostel. They are taught basic skills especially for young people including first aid, fire safety and basic search and rescue. September 2007 saw the completion of phase one in 6 hostels and the establishment of phase two FIRST in 3 hostels.
For further information, please contact your nearest FOCUS office whose details can be found under Contact. FOCUS. Source.
Ismailimail 