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Will we forget?
From Tsunami in
Asia | Secondary school
assembly ideas
Highlight the danger that once the tsunami fades from
the news headlines, we might think that we have sorted out the problem
by giving some money and then forget about it all. This often happens.
A year ago, the ancient Iranian city of Bam was struck by an earthquake
which killed about 30,000 people. A year on, survivors are still
living in temporary shelters.
Through questioning, you could ask pupils to identify
the long-term needs of these communities. These might include:
- Counselling for dealing with 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, tourism)
Could the tsunami disaster be a turning point
for the world?
Emphasise that ultimately the people affected by the
tsunami will not want to be dependent on charity for meeting their
long-term needs. They want to stand on their own two feet.
Briefly highlight how the relationships between rich
and poor countries do not help them to do this. Countries such as
Indonesia, Thailand, India and Sri Lanka spend vast sums of money
on paying back debts to rich countries – this is money that
these countries could spend rebuilding their economies, schools,
and hospitals. To make matters worse, the way in which the world
trading system works keeps these countries poor whilst making rich
countries even richer. These things are in our power to change,
and many people are beginning to realise this.
You might like to quote Sir Richard Branson from the
Independent on 4th January:
‘I think that politicians must realise that people do care
about these issues and want them to do more. If 2005 could become
the year when people make a real effort, then it could make a real
difference.’
Making poverty history would make millions of people’s
lives safer and happier.
Encourage pupils to see that the tsunami disaster
appears to teach us two valuable lessons as we work out how to make
that long-term difference:
- The first lesson is that amazing things can happen
when human beings cooperate with each other - across national,
cultural and religious boundaries
- The second lesson is that governments respond when
people like you and me show that we care about these issues –
just look at how the generous response from ordinary people has
encouraged governments to act
And it is also worth noting that the World Disasters
Report tells us that 98 per cent all deaths from natural disasters
occur in the world’s poorest countries. That’s not because
they have more hurricanes, earthquakes, floods and tsunamis –
it is because the poor are always more vulnerable to these events.
Each disaster reported in highly developed nations results in an
average of 23 deaths, while every disaster in poor countries kills
on average more than 1,000 people (World Disasters Report 2001).
So what CAN we do to make a difference in the
long-term?
Pupils can take this question away with them to investigate
and reflect upon. They may even like to report back on their findings
in a future assembly!
> Read
the other materials from this section.
From Tsunami in
Asia | Primary school assembly
ideas
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