ACEH — Ahead of the commemoration of Disaster Risk Reduction (PRB) month 2024 in Banda Aceh City, Dompet Dhuafa’s Disaster Management Center (DMC) held Disaster Safe Education Unit (SPAB) training in three schools in Banda Aceh City, on Monday (07/10/2024). The three schools are SD Negeri 6 Banda Aceh, SMP Islam Qur’ani, and SMP Al-Azhar Cairo, Banda Aceh.
In the SPAB training facilitated by DMC Dompet Dhuafa, students from each school had the opportunity to learn “What is a disaster?”, “What are the attitudes and steps that need to be taken when a disaster occurs?”, and “What needs to be prepared in disaster mitigation in the pre-disaster phase?”.
Adi Sumarna, staff of the DMC Dompet Dhuafa Disaster Education and Training Center, said that some of the learning delivered to students is an important step so that disaster risk reduction can be achieved. According to him, the DRR month 2024 in Aceh is the right momentum to socialize knowledge about disasters and disaster risk reduction efforts to school children, so that they have the provisions to be resilient in the future.
“The Disaster Safe Education Unit (SPAB) training activity organized by DMC Dompet Dhuafa in Banda Aceh City is a concrete step in equipping the younger generation with disaster mitigation knowledge and skills. By introducing the concept and practice of disaster from an early age, it is hoped that students, teachers, and school staff can be better prepared to deal with potential disasters in the future,” he said.
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In addition to the presentation of material about disaster and its mitigation, the students practiced extinguishing fires using a light fire extinguisher (APAR). This practice aims to introduce students to have alertness when a fire occurs that can arise in their immediate environment, both home and school. In addition, students also had the opportunity to take part in simulations of natural disasters, especially earthquakes. Not only students, this simulation also involved teachers and staff at the school.
Before carrying out the simulation, the Dompet Dhuafa DMC team previously provided information and direction on what and how earthquakes occur, as well as responses that must be carried out if an earthquake occurs.
Siti Sarah, Principal of Al Azhar Cairo Junior High School Banda Aceh, expressed her good response regarding the implementation of SPAB training by DMC Dompet Dhuafa at her school. According to her, what was conveyed during the SPAB training was very important and appropriate for every level of education, from elementary to high school.
“We think that disaster mitigation is necessary because if we do not have knowledge related to disaster mitigation, there will be many victims who fall due to lack of knowledge. So I think this is very important, even students must learn and know about disaster mitigation like that,” he said.
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Disaster education and mitigation from an early age is important considering the potential for disaster in every region in Indonesia, including Aceh. Siti Sarah said that disasters often occur and have a direct impact on learning and teaching activities in schools. Last month, Aceh experienced a windstorm that caused schools to be closed. So indeed, some of these potential disasters are quite close to Aceh. Moreover, this area was once hit by a tsunami.
“My hope is that the teachers can practice. Alhamdulillah, we already know the knowledge, we can develop it, practice it, and hopefully we – we never know when the disaster will come – and hopefully when the disaster comes we can practice this knowledge. So we can minimize the victims who can be affected by the disaster. Then hopefully this disaster mitigation socialization can spread widely, hopefully this can also be felt by friends in other schools from any level, both elementary and high school,” said Siti Sarah.
The same tone was also conveyed by Tuti Martiani Ningsih, Principal of SD Negeri 6 Banda Aceh. Tuti appreciated the activities organized by DMC Dompet Dhuafa at her school.
“I am very grateful and appreciate this activity because children get experience and knowledge of how they prepare themselves if a disaster occurs, whether it is a fire, earthquake and so on. Surely we hope that the event will not happen, but it is the power of God and can happen anytime and anywhere,” said Tuti.
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The importance of early introduction to disaster mitigation cannot be separated from the potential disasters that exist in Indonesia. A generation that is resilient in facing disasters in the future is the result of the implementation of disaster mitigation education to the younger generation today. With this activity, Tuti wants the students to gain experience and lessons. That way, they are ready to protect themselves and what they should do to deal with the disaster.
This SPAB training activity also received good responses from the students. One of them was Aleya Kimora, a student of Al-Azhar Cairo Junior High School in Banda Aceh.
“The activity was really exciting, especially during the fire simulation. The fire handling experiment was really exciting. The explanation was very exciting and useful. It was also accompanied by movies and singing. I also really got the feeling of the earthquake simulation. I panicked a little and could feel what happened. It was fun,” Aleya exclaimed.
Aleya also added the importance of knowledge and insights about disasters and their mitigation measures. Aleya realizes that disasters can happen anytime and anywhere, so she thinks disaster education is a must-have tool for everyone. And this SPAB training activity was Aleya’s first experience with disaster education and mitigation knowledge.
Initiatives like this are not only important to raise awareness, but also to form a more resilient community that is able to minimize the adverse effects of disasters that can come at any time. Because the Earth is only one, Empower Now. (Dompet Dhuafa)
Text and photos: Riza Muthohar, Muhammad Afriza Ardha DMC
Editor: Dhika Prabowo