LEBAK, BANTEN — Disaster victims do not discriminate by age. The elderly, the young, and even toddlers can become victims of disasters. Therefore, a sense of disaster preparedness must be possessed by everyone, including children.
With this in mind, Dompet Dhuafa through its Disaster Management Center (DMC) provided education on earthquake disaster preparedness to students at SD Negeri 1 Sukamanah, Kampung Burunuk, Desa Sukamanah, Malingping, Lebak on Friday (26/1/2024). A total of 70 children participated in this training, showing enthusiasm and paying close attention to the education provided by DMC Dompet Dhuafa.
Elma Restiani, one of the students, mentioned that she learned a lot about earthquake evacuation. Considering she had previously experienced the tremors of an earthquake at her residence, although she could not recall exactly when that earthquake occurred.
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“Today we learned about earthquake evacuation. Elma was startled (during the simulation), I thought it was real, but it was only a practice,” explained the 6th-grade student of SDN 1 Sukamanah, after participating in the earthquake disaster preparedness education.
“Elma was shocked, protected her head, then went under the table. After that, I ran outside to the field,” she elaborated, trying to recall the experience.
The area of SD Negeri 1 Sukamanah in Malingping is prone to earthquakes and tsunamis, as seen from its location on the active Cimandiri and Baribis faults. Moreover, the location of SD Negeri 1 Sukamanah is also close to the coastal area. Thus, this activity is highly beneficial for the students to enhance their capacity and resilience in facing natural disasters.
“It is a positive activity, especially for us who are in the coastal area, prone to earthquakes and tsunamis,” said Nunung Nurfalah, a member of the teaching staff and also the Scout Extracurricular Coordinator.
“The children are more aware of how to take care of and protect themselves when a disaster occurs,” she continued.
To create an engaging learning atmosphere, the DMC Dompet Dhuafa team used several teaching methods, including drawing, matching pictures, and watching educational films on earthquake disaster preparedness.
“The children were divided into three groups. The first group watched educational films, the second group received education through songs and matching pictures, and the third group drew simple floor plans of the school environment,” explained Abdul ‘Labing’ Azis, Staff of Preparedness & Climate Change Adaptation Mitigation, after providing education.
This education is a collaboration requested by Mahmud, a student working on his final university project. Mahmud observed that Desa Sukamanah needed attention regarding disaster management programs.
“(The training aims) to provide understanding about earthquake and tsunami evacuation simulations so that the body’s reflexes are trained and do not easily panic if an earthquake and tsunami disaster occurs,” said Mahmud, a student currently studying at UIN Sultan Maulana Hasanuddin Banten.
According to Mahmud’s observations, Desa Sukamanah in Malingping is geographically located about 1.7 Km from the coastline, making it vulnerable to earthquakes followed by tsunamis.
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Besides Desa Sukamanah’s coastal location, the village also lacks sufficient resilience in disaster preparedness, such as limited disaster mitigation training, evacuation simulations, and socialization from related institutions.
Moreover, the village has yet to optimize informational boards explaining the dangers of earthquakes and tsunamis and evacuation route boards.
Therefore, DMC Dompet Dhuafa responded to Mahmud’s call to provide earthquake disaster preparedness education, aligning with Lebak’s area, specifically Desa Sukamanah, which is a targeted intervention area for the Disaster Prepared and Resilient Area (KTTB) program by DMC Dompet Dhuafa.
Previously, DMC Dompet Dhuafa had also provided socialization to teachers and school staff regarding Safe Education Units (SPAB) to ensure the school is prepared and resilient in facing disasters.
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According to the Lebak Regency Risk Assessment 2013–2017 by Inarisk, the earthquake hazard map shows that the total area threatened by earthquakes in Lebak Regency is 100%, with a total index of 1,167,502 people exposed.
Furthermore, the tsunami hazard map reveals that the total area threatened by tsunamis in Lebak Regency is 1.87%, with a total index of 80,362 people exposed.
Dear Friends, let us pray for and support community movements that are alert and resilient in facing disasters. Thus, we can be more anticipatory and minimize the impact of disasters occurring around us. (Dompet Dhuafa/DMC/AFP)