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Day One: Tsunami follow-up

> Morning session: The effects of the Asian tsunami on poor people
> Afternoon session: Games from the South

Morning session: The effects of the Asian tsunami on poor people

Key focus: Why are the poor the worst affected by natural disasters?

Activities

> Our reactions (15 min)
> Causes and effects (30 min)
> Investigating needs (30 min)
> New tsunami photostories and case studies (1hour)

Background information for teachers
The destruction caused by the tsunami was in origin a natural disaster, but it was greatly exacerbated by the poverty and marginalisation of the people in the area

The poor are always the worst affected by disasters: their housing is less well built and in dangerous areas: their livelihoods are wiped out more easily; they do not have insurance; they have no personal reserves to help with reconstruction. They live in regions that lack early warning systems, have dilapidated infrastructure, weak communications, and poor health services. Wealthy people, including foreign tourists, certainly suffered from the tsunami. But the local poor suffered much more and will continue to do so.

From Global Express: Tsunami - A world changing event published by Manchester Development Education Project and Oxfam, January 2005

Activity 1: Our reactions (15 mins)

You will need
> A copy of Our reactions worksheet (33KB pdf)

Aim: To provide pupils with an opportunity to explore and express their reactions to the tsunami, and to reflect on what they have done about it.

Start with pupils working alone. Ask them to write down words that describe their feelings, e.g. sad, angry and so on. They could then work in pairs to explain their feelings and to give reasons for them. Either individually or in pairs, give them the 'reactions' worksheet . Explore how strong feelings of upset can be a trigger to want to act to help. Discuss the size of the public's donations.The DEC appeal closed at around £300 million. Oxfam's share plus donations to our own appeal raised over £100m for Oxfam globally!!

From Global Express: Tsunami - A world changing event published by Manchester Development Education Project and Oxfam, January 2005

Activity 2: Causes and effects (30 mins)

You will need
> Causes and effects worksheet (54KB pdf)

Aim: To increase awareness that there are different kinds of disasters that produce the same effects. To consider why some kinds of disasters get more media coverage than others.

Pupils could work on this alone or in pairs, then feed back to the class. Ask them to explain their reasoning. You may wish to go through the questions at the bottom of the sheet as a class discussion. Help pupils think through why the media reports on deaths caused by a tsunami but doesn't regularly report on deaths caused by factors related to poverty.

From Global Express: Tsunami – A world changing event published by Manchester Development Education Project and Oxfam, January 2005

Activity 3: Investigating needs (30 mins)

Aims
To help pupils understand the needs of communities affected by the Indian Ocean tsunami in the short, medium, and long term.

You will need
> Media coverage of the Indian Ocean tsunami (either online or print versions).

What to do
Ask pupils to draw a large version of the Impact circles diagram. Ask them to use media coverage of the Indian Ocean tsunami to research the needs of affected communities, and to record them on the diagram according to whether the needs will be experienced in the short, medium or long term. Pupils may find it helpful to focus on coverage of one specific region, although this is not essential as the effects will be broadly similar in all affected areas

Checklist of needs (not exhaustive)
You can use the following checklist to add any needs to the discussion that your pupils have missed. Alternatively, for differentiation, you can discuss items from the list and then ask pupils to sort into short, medium and long term needs.

• Safe removal of dead human bodies and animal carcasses
• Clear and repair airport runways
• Temporary shelter for people who have lost homes
• Clean, safe water supplies
• Emergency food supplies
• Medicines and medical equipment
• ‘Family kits’ of cooking and hygiene supplies
• Clothes
• Blankets
• Find missing people
• Temporary hospitals
• Sanitation facilities
• Fuel
• Mosquito nets
• Clear debris
• De-salinisation of water supplies
• De-salinisation of farmland
• Counselling for dealing with people's trauma and grief
• New farm tools
• New cooking equipment
• Restock farm animals
• Rebuild homes
• Rebuild and equip schools
• Rebuild and equip hospitals
• Rebuild roads and railways
• Improve tsunami early warning systems
• Train local people in emergency relief work
• Restoring people’s livelihoods (e.g. new fishing boats, developing tourism)
• Digging tools like spades, shovels, mattocks
• Opening road/transport access through the debris to where people may be trapped or buried
• Provide farmers and smallholders with seeds

Activity 4: New tsunami photo-stories and case studies (1 hour)

Aim: To interest pupils in the Asian tsunami and its aftermath.

Use the new tsunami photostories and case studies to interest your pupils in the aftermath of the Asian tsunami. What happened to the people affected by the disaster after the press coverage stopped? Have they been able to rebuild their lives?

If you have a whiteboard, you can show these photo-stories to the class as a whole, allowing plenty of time for discussion and questions about the photographs and information. The case studies focus on the effect of the tsunami on the livelihoods of those working with coir pits and of fishermen and farmers. These case studies can be used as the basis for making painted scrolls (see Day 2 afternoon) if desired.

> Find out more about using case studies and photographs

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