February has been a busy month for the ASB team who are implementing a project in the Magelang District, Central Java. The project, which started in early 2017, is focusing on developing school resilience towards natural hazards. The project covers 81 schools, including primary schools, kindergartens and special schools for children with disabilities. In collaboration with seven facilitators from Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs) and civil society organisations (CSOs), ASB has trained more than 200 school teachers, principals, school committees and observers. The two main topics of the last training series were education in emergency situations and trauma healing. Similar to other previous trainings, this training was followed by monitoring activities at each school.
The project is not just focusing on schools, the ASB team is also reaching community members through activities at the sub-village and village levels. The team focuses on four villages, Ngablak, Margoyoso, Sirahan and Temanggung. Each of these four villages have their own characteristics and vulnerabilities to various natural hazards, including volcanic eruption, lava flood, whirlwind and landslides. Later on, the village disaster management plan will be consolidated with school preparedness plans. This consolidation aims to develop an integrated and effective disaster management plan. Project activities in Mageleng District are supported by Aktion Deutschland Hilft (ADH) and Deutsche Telekom.
