School Based Sustainable Disaster Risk Reduction Education and Material Development project; Final Report

1 Contents

I. Overview…………………………………………………………………………………..2

II. Project Objectives……………………………………………………………………….3

III. Target Municipalities and Schools…………………………………………………3-4

IV. Project Activities……………………………………………………………………...4-17

v. Major Achievements……………………………………………………………………18

vi. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….19

I. Overview

The ‘School Based Sustainable Disaster Risk Reduction Education and Material Development Project’ is initiated jointly by Plus Arts a Non-Profit Organization based in Kobe, Japan and CITYNET Yokohama Project Office Japan. Informal Sector Service Centre (INSEC) is a local counterpart for the project. Funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the project has covered 10 schools from five different .

Plus Arts is a non-profit professional disaster prevention organization based in Kobe, Japan and its lessons are known for its practicality and simplicity in raising awareness on disaster prevention. CITYNET Yokohama Project Office has been providing support and assistance from Japan to CITYNET members through projects, workshops, seminars, training, technical advisory sessions, symposiums and many other platforms of interest to members. Likewise, INSEC has worked for more than two decades in the human rights sector with its active presence in all 77 districts of Nepal.

The concept of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) education is new in Nepal and its scope has emerged after April 25, 2015 when the magnitude 7.8 Richter scale earthquake hit the northern part of the country. The earthquake wiped out several villages and towns completely and inflicted serious damages in both rural and urban areas. Over 8,000 people lost their lives, many of them were children. As per the report of UNOCHA; more than 16,000 public and private

2 schools, about half of the country's total has been damaged and a large number of students lost their family and homes.

With limited funds to reconstruct or renovate, classes are being conducted in the open areas or in tents where the learning conditions are poor. The earthquake which is the largest to have happened in more than 80 years caused significant shock to both children and adults as disaster education was almost non-existent. To better understand the mechanisms of the earthquake and to be able to take necessary precautions and preventive measures, the project has initiated disaster education and focuses on disaster prevention education in schools using commonly available goods.

Initially the project covered 10 schools from five different municipalities including , Lalitpur, Bhaktapur, and Chandragiri. Both public and private schools selected by the municipalities have been included in the project. In addition, schools who had participated in a similar program previously through a separate project have also been assisting in the current project as peers. This has increased the total number of participating teachers to 33 teachers from 19 schools. Additionally, more than 100 other teachers have been involved in the project indirectly and the project has been able to convey Disaster Prevention message to more than 2,000 students by the end of the first year.

II. Project Objectives

The major objectives of the project are:

i. To share lessons learnt in Japan through major earthquakes and develop local solutions for Nepal through education and awareness

ii. To develop local disaster education learning materials by using locally available materials and disseminate in a larger scale

III. Target Municipalities and Schools

1. Kathmandu Metropolitan City a. Swarnim Secondary School b. Saraswoti Secondary School c. The Next Generation School

3 d. Arunodaya Lower Secondary School e. Prabhat Secondary School f. White Field International School 2. Lalitpur Metropolitan City a. Hindu Bidhyapith b. Shramjeet Kishor Secondary School c. Mitra Primary School d. Tri-Padma School e. Madan Smarak School f. Bhashara Secondary School 3. Bhaktapur Municipality a. Himalayan Glory School b. Basu School 4. Shankharapur Municipality a. Secondary School b. Bhagyodaya Secondary School c. Ganesh Primary School 5. a. Supreme Model School b. Narayanjan Seconday School

IV. Project Activities

A. School Survey and Research B. Stakeholders meeting C. Teachers Training and Workshop D. IKC event E. DRR Awareness Activities F. Visit of Japanese teachers

4 A. School Survey and Research

During the first month of the project, survey was carried out in targeted schools. The existing knowledge on disaster prevention education was collected through the survey. During the survey, interviews were taken with teachers, students and parents. The interview provided basic understanding School Survey at Sankharapur and practices on disaster prevention. The need of the disaster prevention education was raised by teachers and parents during the interview. School survey was basically focused on three themes; firstly the experiences of the teacher during the earthquake, second, the existing knowledge on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and third, the teachers’ expectations from DRR activities. The survey provided future path for the project.

According to the interviews, although the classes resumed after a month long delay following the earthquake, many children suffered from stress related syndromes such as insomnia, lack of concentration, sudden burst of tears, shaking, isolation and uncontrolled expression of fear, all symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress School Survey at Lalitpur Syndrome (PTSD). There has yet to be any assistance regarding the fore-mentioned issues and the Nepalese teachers or volunteers do not have proper training in handling the cases. Some of the schools had also been assisted by the Red Cross Society and other international organizations and provided basic educational tools and equipment. However it was apparent that the teachers did not know how to use them.

Many teachers do not know the basic understanding about disaster prevention. Though some teachers are trained through various organizations, they had never implemented their learning to the classroom system. Some

5 teachers are still afraid of talking about the disaster. Despite of being an important issue, very less priority is given to disaster education. Some research finding shows that the disaster management topic is never taught in schools. Especially in the cases of government school, they lack adequate knowledge on disaster management and schools do not have plan on disaster management. The disaster drill also had never been conducted in several schools and they do not have even evacuation space. Due to the loss of school building, one of the project schools is running its classes on public ground by making temporary classrooms with the support of locally available bamboo and wood.

B. Stakeholder’s Meeting

In order to sustain the project and to have the ownership taken after the project key stakeholders were identified for the project which includes the municipal authorities and the school principals. Two stakeholder’s meeting was carried out during the project period.

The first workshop was carried out in June. It was an introductory meeting where the plans and project activities were explained to the stakeholders. The representatives from all five municipalities and principals of targeted schools were present during the meeting. During the discussion session, all participants put their view and provided feedback to the project. Both Municipalities and School Principals assured to provide full support for the project. They raised the importance of spreading DRR prevention education to the students. The head of the disaster department of Kathmandu Metropolitan said that DRR education is needed to be institutionalize and forming DRR club at schools will provide sustainability.

The second stakeholder’s meeting was held in October where progress of the project was shared and discussion was made on possibility of formation of DRR child’s clubs at schools. The stakeholders agreed that it was essential to develop a

Participants of second stakeholders 6 meeting mechanism to continue the activities in the schools. It was also mentioned that budget allocation, involving other teachers and continuous exchange of knowledge among the teachers from other schools were also important factors in continuing the work. During this meeting, the stakeholders were also able to observe the DRR activities produced by the teachers who had completed the workshops.

C. Reporting Workshop and Teachers Training

i. Reporting Workshop

A half day reporting workshop was conducted in January where the participants from the previous project briefed their progress on developing disaster prevention education materials. Mr. Hirokazu Nagata, Chairperson of Plus Arts NPO presented on forming DRR club concept to the participants. A discussion was then made among Participants of Reporting Workshop

participants for conducting the future activities.

The participants identified possible challenges working in schools through their experiences and shared possible ways out. They shared that workload at schools and involving a single person from each school makes it difficult to conduct activities at school. The teachers are seeking support from the school management and colleagues to run the activities at schools. ii. First Training Workshop

The first training workshop conducted in June 2017 allowed participants to be introduced to the DRR games and activities that Plus Arts

Mr. 7Nagata Facilitating the session at first workshop have been implementing in Japan and other countries. During the presentation Mr. Nagata introduced ten different disaster prevention learning materials/games to the participants. The lessons not only taught how the games or activities can be conducted but also what the children can learn from that activity. The teachers were then divided into groups according to the municipalities. The first part of the workshop was to familiarise them on the tools that were developed in Japan and Thailand to educate children and the community members. The workshop provided not only the method of using the tools but also shared the process by which such material were developed and customised according to the disasters and the location where the tools were being used.

The trainees were then asked to provide inputs for localising the material to fit their context and environment. Numerous good examples and suggestions were shared which were then used to develop the Nepali version of Teachers of Kathmandu Presenting their game the game or tools. The during first workshop teachers were then asked to test the material amongst the groups to seek further adjustments to finalise the material to be used during the demonstration exercise the following day.

8 A total of ten games were developed as follows:

1. Disaster exercise – The purpose of this exercise was to simplify the understanding of disaster through physical movement so that children would better understand the situation. For example an exercise to understand Teachers of Bhaktapur performing the mechanism of the earthquake was disaster exercise at training session developed.

2. Shuffle game – The purpose of this game is to understand the correct sequence of things for items which may be useful during disasters and also understanding the flow/ process o f matters. This helps build logical thinking among children. Students playing shuffle game in IKC event at Bhaktapur

3.Disaster life cycle game – Developed by the Thai designer, this game allows children to correctly associate the actions with the situation before, during and after the earthquake.

Student playing disaster life cycle game in IKC event

4. Tossa No Hitokoto (Comic Drill) – Literally translated as ‘instinctive reaction’, this game allows children to develop critical

Students playing comic drill in IKC event 9 thinking during a situation. Later Nepali teachers converted this term to Comic Drill.

5. Paper craft – Originally based on ‘origami’, a popular Japanese paper folding technique, and the children can learn ways of making various shapes of dishes using newspapers which may be useful during disasters. Teachers teaching paper craft to students in IKC event

6. First aid game – As the name suggests this allows children to carry out immediate first aid for people particularly with physical injuries but using basic material available such as newspapers, plastic bags, scarves, and umbrellas. Precautions on handling injuries are also taught through Students learning First aid in IKC this game. event

7. Emergency kit quiz – This is a memory game where children can learn about the 12 essential items that may be useful during the disasters. Students playing Emergency Kit quiz in IKC event

10 8. Bed sheet stretcher – This exercise shows how a victim can be transported by only using a bed sheet or a blanket. A proper way of handling is introduced through this game.

Bed sheet Stretcher perform by students

9. Picture Story Show- This is mental exercise where students need to identify mistakes shown in picture and they have to explain the reasons for the mistakes. Through this game students can concentrate and developed the sense of reasoning. Teachers of Kathmandu explaining picture story to the students

10. Spider Rope Web- This game is introduced by teachers of Chandragiri, where a web of rope is formed after sharing the disaster related awareness activities by the students. This game teaches students about value of staying together during the disaster.

Students playing Spider web in IKC event

Beside these ten games one more game using ropes was introduced by Dr. Pranab Karmacharya who is a professional therapist as well as Scout Medical and Rescue Team SMART trainer, is a fellowship fiscal 2016-2017 of HANDs! Project sponsored by the Japan Foundation Dr. Pranab teaching rope rescue to the students

11 Asia Center. He regularly provides trainings to students through Nepal Scouts. This game teaches students on proper way of tying the ropes and the way to rescue.

The above games were developed and localized by the participating teachers during the workshop and demonstrated during the event on the fourth day at a school. Teachers were divided into several groups and assigned a game to be introduced in their booth. The children were then grouped for going around the booths to try out the activities.

Over 150 children parents and teachers from various schools came to enjoy the disaster prevention educational demonstration where children were able to try out all of the eleven games. iii. Second Training /workshop

The purpose for the second training workshop held in October 2017 was to fine- tune the games developed during the first training workshop. Some new games were also developed during this workshop by the participating teachers. Teachers of Chandragiri presenting During the first session of the workshop, their tools teachers presented their research findings and work progress. This included interviewing the disaster victims in their community. They also presented newly developed disaster prevention materials.

After the follow up session Ms. Ruttikorn Vuttikorn, a game designer from Club Creative based in Thailand, facilitated the session by providing information on various games that can be used as disaster prevention education. Her presentation Ms. Vuttikorn facilitating the was focused on importance of creating session on second workshop games for delivering knowledge to the students. Based on the municipality, teachers were divided into six groups to

12 prepare new games. . With the feedback from Mr. Nagata and Ms. Vuttikorn, teachers developed seven new games during the training period.

These games were then demonstrated on the fourth day at a school. Over 200 children parents and teachers from various schools came to enjoy these games. The developed games are as follows:

1. Building weakness- This game was developed by teachers of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC). This game explains about the importance of earthquake resistance buildings. In this game students need to identify the possible answers of the given questions. This game requires both speed and understanding of the subject Building Weakness game matter. prepared by Teachers of KMC

Psychological First Aid- This game is also developed by teachers of KMC. This game explains about ways to conduct first aid during disaster. Different options were given to the students and they have to identify best possible solutions for the given problems. This game helps to analyze the situation properly and helps to make better Psychological First Aid game prepare by teachers of KMC solution for a given problem.

2. Earthquake Awareness- This game is developed by teachers of Lalitpur Metropolitan City (LMC). The game provides awareness on earthquake. Various awareness activities are shown through the help of pictures. In this game students are briefed about earthquake awareness and then play in groups. This game helps to grasp Earthquake Awareness game the knowledge about earthquake and helps preparation by teachers of LMC in team coordination.

13 3. First Aid Kit- This game is developed by the group of LMC teachers. This game gives solution for first aid by using locally available or homemade medicines. In this game students learn about locally available medicine that can be used against common diseases. First Aid Kit Game prepared by teachers of LMC

4. Sanitation- This game is developed by teachers of Chandragiri municipality. Through this game students learn about ways to maintain sanitation during the disaster. Students are given the situation in the form of comic story and their understandings are checked. Sanitation game prepared by teachers of Chandragiri

5. Save Water-This game is developed by teachers of Bhaktapur Municipality. This game shows the importance and ways of conserving water in the daily life. Student identifies the right or wrong ways of water conservation and selects the option by playing game. This game provides Teachers of Bhaktapur knowledge as well as entertains the students. presenting save water game

6. Fire Safety-This game is developed by teachers of Shankharapur Municipality. This game deals with fire safety measures and provides knowledge to the students through the help of relay games. In this game; Teachers of Shankharapur students have to identify the best option for presenting fire safety game the given problems.

14 D.IKC (Iza! Kareu Caravan) Event

IKC (Iza! Kareu Caravan) event is the event where teachers and students demonstrate the disaster prevention education materials/games to other people. After taking the trainings teachers organized IKC events in their respective schools. During the period, a total of seven such IKC events have been successfully completed. Below is the summarized data of the events:

Month School hosting Municipality No. of Remarks participatin IKC event g students March Madan Smarak Lalitpur 150 8 other schools School participated

June (10) Himalayan Glory Bhaktapur 150 Includes School teachers and parents

June(23) Arunodaya Kathmandu 120 Includes School participants from eight different schools

August(9) Swarnim School Kathmandu 50 Includes Japanese Participants and teachers for three different schools

August(10) Supreme Chandragiri 100 Includes Secondary teachers and School parents

15 August(22) Shramjeet Kishor Lalitpur 150 Includes School teachers parents and 3 other schools

August(26) Hindu Vidyapith Lalitpur 150 Mayor, deputy mayor and ward representatives also attended

October Swarnim School Kathmandu 250 Includes teachers, parents and stakeholders

On August 26th, event organized in Hindu Bidhyapith of Lalitpur where the Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Ward Chairs, Ward members and parents were present the elected members also participated in each activity and provided positive feedback to the students and teachers. The mayor and the deputy mayor of Lalitpur Metropolitan City said that the event is very meaningful and Elected members of Lalitpur City assured to provide continued support for participating in IKC event at spreading Disaster Prevention Education to Hindu Bidhyapith other schools and communities.

Through the above mentioned events the disaster prevention education has spread to more than 1,000 people this year.

E.DRR Awareness Activities at School

After completion of first training in June, the DRR awareness activities were regularly conducted by the teachers in their respective schools and communities. Schools conducted various programs like disaster drill, first aid

16 training, bed sheet stretcher, disaster prevention drawing competition, paper craft making competition etc. Teachers have been organizing simulation drill for earthquakes and making proper plan for their school. They have been inviting parents and local people to observe their Disaster drill practice at activities at school and collecting feedback from Saraswoti School of them. The disaster drill exercise is now being Kathmandu conducted on a regular basis.

F. Visit of Japanese teachers and participation in project activities

In August, a group of 18 people including 11 Japanese teachers visited INSEC to obtain the information about the project activities. During the discussion session between INSEC and the Japanese project coordinator had addressed the concern of the teachers. The Japanese teachers had concern on how Project Coordinator presenting disaster activities are running in Nepal and project activities to the Japanese how teachers are conducting disaster teachers prevention awareness program at school. They were interested on local version of the disaster prevention games. They further interested on process of evaluation and achievement of the activities at school.

The group then visited Swarnim School at Dallu, Kathmandu. The teachers from Saraswoti School and Swarnim School presented separately on disaster prevention activities that they usually conduct in their school. After the presentation from both the schools, the Japanese teachers then divided into two groups and participated in Japanese teachers participating disaster prevention games developed by in disaster awareness game at Swarnim School

17 the Nepalese teachers. Japanese teachers were highly influenced with the hospitality of the school and learned about Nepalese disaster prevention methods.

IV. Major achievements of the project 1. Localization of disaster prevention education After successful completion of the training, teachers along with the students have localized some disaster prevention education games. The games like disaster drill exercise, shuffle game, disaster life cycle, picture story, comic drill, emergency kit quiz, first aid and bed stretcher are now have been localized. The frog caravan has been localized as tortoise caravan and ‘Tossa no hitokoto has been localized into a comic drill. Teachers localized these games using locally available materials and local context.

2. Formation of new games Teachers have formed new games by prioritizing the local context and resources. A new game like disaster life cycle of lightning is one of the major games that have been produced during the period. It shows how lightning occurs and provides prevention methods. Similarly the picture story of fire, landslides and floods has also been developed by the teachers. Spider web is another new game formed during the period. All the seven games formed during the second workshop were the new creation of the teachers.

3. Formation of DRR teachers club Teachers have formed DRR teachers club through which they are conducting activities at their school on a regular basis. They are conducting meetings in their respective municipalities and planning the activities. A DRR teachers Club Facebook page has also been created. It gives complete and updated information about the club activities. Through the page, information is circulated among the teachers and they post events dates, programs updates and photos. The page is now a very good platform for sharing information among each other.

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V. Conclusion

The first year project completed with a realization that Nepal needs a disaster prevention education at a very basic level. As most people do not comprehend the multidimensional facets of the disaster such as for the earthquakes, Japanese knowledge, practice and innovations can provide a high impact solution to not only the people at the grass roots levels but also at municipal and national levels.

The teachers are taking interest to form various disaster prevention learning materials and games. After taking part in two different trainings and workshops, they are now realizing to work hard for transforming disaster prevention education to school children. They want themselves to be prepared for disasters and want to transfer their learning to other teachers.

Currently, they are only familiar with the basic concept of disaster prevention and there are a lot of details and improvements yet to be achieved. A DRR student club can be one of the ways forward for sustainability of the project through which any school can run disaster prevention activities. In the next stage the project will try to establish a DRR child club in project implemented schools.

The municipalities are taking interest in forming DRR learning center and producing DRR education materials which is one of the promising achievements for the project. The project will further seek possible support from the local bodies and the concerned stakeholders for making disaster education reach out to every schools and community.

The high popularity of the project also lies in its simplicity and learning important lessons in an enjoyable way. The methodology does not use any text books and can be adopted in any country since that needs to enhance their community based DRR activities with schools as the center for learning, sharing and enjoying.

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Annex I Name and city of the teachers trained this year

S.N. Name of the Teachers School City

1 Macha Kaji Maharjan Saraswoti Kathmandu

2 Pooja Dangol Saraswoti Kathmandu

3 Kalpana Pant Swarnim Kathmandu

4 Budhha Laxmi Tamang Swarnim Kathmandu

5 Tulasa Karkee Shram Jeet Lalitpur

6 Neelam Shrestha Shram Jeet Lalitpur

7 Ghanashyam Yogi Hindu Bidhyapith Lalitpur

8 Jagannath Kandel Hindu Bidyapith Lalitpur

9 Dayaram Lohala Basu Bhaktapur

10 Rabina Karmacharya Basu Bhaktapur

11 Raju Chhukan Himalayan Glory Bhaktapur

12 Sumi Matang Himalayan Glory Bhaktapur

13 Sangita Shrestha Bhagyodaya Shankharapur

14 Yeswant Lal Shrestha Bhagyodaya Shankharapur

15 Umesh Bista Bajrayogini Shankharapur

16 Asmita Bista Bajrayogini Shankharapur

17 Manju Subedi Narayanjan Chandragiri

18 Nanu Thapa Pyakurel Narayanjan Chandragiri

20 19 Sanju Lama Supreme Chandragiri

20 Judhha Singh Thapa Supreme Chandragiri

21 Reema Aryal Bhattarai The Next Kathmandu Generation

22 Sujata Shrestha Arunodaya Kathmandu

23 Ramdira Shakya Prabhat Kathmandu

24 Pawan Koirala Tri Padma Lalitpur

25 Laxmi Amatya Mitra Lalitpur

26 Shanti Sthapit Mitra Lalitpur

27 Lijina Bajracharya Mitra Lalitpur

28 Ava Awale Bhasara Lalitpur

29 Nirmala Prajapati Basu Bhaktapur

30 Nuchhe Raj Shrestha Ganesh Shankharapur

31 Kabindra Man Singh Whitefield Kathmandu

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