Children and village members of Hai Duong and Huong Phong communes in the Huong Tra district surrounded the new billboards SRD set up on Friday, October 7, 2011 as part of the Community Based Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation project.
Setting up billboards in Hai Duong
The two billboards of each village contain information on risk prevention for natural disasters that affect their village the most. For example, Hai Duong's billboard had risk prevention information on typhoons while Huong Phong's billboard had risk prevention information on floods.
The billboards were also strategically placed in areas with high traffic volumes to reach more community members. In the Hai Duong commune, the billboards were placed just outside the People's Committee where people often walk by or go for various reasons. According to one villager in Hai Duong, “It is good to have these billboards with this kind of information to help us understand more about these disasters--what to do and what not to do." In the Huong Phong district, the billboards were placed close to a school and market. Consequently, school children will be able to read the boards when they pass by and tell their parents about what they have read afterwards. This is also in addition to villagers passing by as they are going to and from the market.
Children from Huong Phong Cummune taking a look at new billboards
These warning systems inform these communities of the specific signs and dangers of disasters along with information of what to do and what not to do in case of a typhoon or flood. For example, one billboard contains information of the characteristics of a typhoon or flood and the damages it can do to your household, such as loss of shelter, while the other billboard explains in further detail of what to do in preparation for such disasters, such as storing food and valuable documents and items in higher areas and avoiding areas with tall trees or pillars.
Villagers can use the information and awareness these billboards provide and apply them into their daily lives, especially during the typhoon season. This means that the capacity of community members to respond to disasters will significantly improve, their vulnerabilities in the face of disaster will be greatly minimized and many lives can be preserved.
-SRD-
Centre for Sustainable Rural Development (SRD)
No.31, Alley 19 Kim Dong Street, Hoang Mai District, Ha Noi
Phone: +84 24 3943 6676/78 | Fax: +84 24 3943 6449
