A Simple Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Starts With Behavior Change of Our Own

A Simple DRR

A week before, my friend who created and own this blog invited me to join. And he challenged me with three writings every week! I’m not a professional writer, not even a diary writer. Things happen in my life just fly by and back again, sometimes right in the time i need it. So, to be honest i don’t know what to write at the moment.

However, i will write at this blog in sequence with my program implementation phase. It is easier for me to do so. Since it will be regular writings, my head cannot just pop up with three ideas in a week! So just let say this is a program dairy.

First of all, I’m working on a Disaster Risk Reduction program. Covering three district, which are Kota Pariaman, Padang Pariaman and Agam. Started from April 2010, a new beginner in West Sumatera! A very tight short project!

This program is carried out to support community to strengthen their resilience to cope with disaster. strengthen resilience? It’s not an easy things to do, especially for a 7 month project. Ooww...there is an addition, the project also uses behavior change frame in implementing its objectives!

At the first glance, I totally confused of how to create changes within seven months? While I am not carrying any magnum or AK 47. Even though, there is possibility that several NGOs has been worked there before, it’s not a guarantee that the community well received the knowledge transferred before.

Well, after all we come into the understanding that disaster risk reduction is in a simplest way aimed to build series of activities to save the earth. To support people to be more friendly into the environment. We believe that previous and potential disasters happening in many areas in Indonesia are part of the change of the climate. Climate change does not stand alone to make these happen. It relates to the land, the air, and the water. While human are a unit in this earth who live to use these elements. Human usage over these elements brings changes into nature element conditions. The worst conditions of it has brought severe disaster, such tsunami, earthquake, flood and else.

Even though some scientist also said that climate change is something that is naturally happened  and has nothing to do with it. (let’s not to argue on that). What we must consider now is all of those changes has happened, and what will we do to avoid the losses? Since what a person do is affected the nature element, our behavior has to be changed. To be more friendly to the environment surround us. In hope that, a better attitude, will save us from the losses.

So, the simplest thing that our program has been doing at this movement is improving foundations needed to strengthen resilience. It lays on knowledge and practices enhancement. Both are built that those improvement will lead toward suitable behavior within disaster conditions. A strong and relevant behavior will help people implementing routine activity within  the frame of disaster risk and its prevention. In the end it will strengthen their resilience.

Knowledge improvement is to enhance ability in identifying existing and potential disaster, and determined which attitude worsen it; vulnerable person and situation; and prevention activity based on local resources. Practices is aimed on safety environment activity such as communal work, simple garbage disposal, tree planting and land forth usage.

Those are very simple, but not an easy thing to do. So, the program realize that to have good acceptance and implementation, laid on the appropriate approaches. In doing so, we’re using local institution, running through existing social system, regular coordination and monitoring.

Those are the basis of my further writings. Next, i would like to talk about the situational conditions among communities which are the program beneficiaries.

By Lis Nurhayati