One of my earliest experiences in community centred media took me to Banda Aceh a number of years after the tragic tsunami in 2004. Five years on and the devastation was clearly still visible. Research by colleagues with disaster response found in that initial critical phase of the disaster, people weren’t necessarily prioritising items that we would associate with primary needs such as food, water, shelter but the most important need was information.
Buzi bounces back ...
Yesterday Cyclone Kenneth was the second cyclone to hit Mozambique this season. Only one month ago, Jon and I traveled to Beira in central Mozambique in response to Cyclone Idai. Beira was cut off from many parts of the country for several days, and some surrounding towns were cut off for several weeks. The fastest way to re-connect people was through restoring the mobile networks and through FM radio stations.
Disaster Response Radio TRAINING IN Pakistan
Photo courtesy of First Response Radio
Following the Asia Tsunami and numerous earthquakes in Pakistan, radio broadcasters have come to see the need for a fast, disaster-response radio plan to assist in recovery from a disaster. Based on these experiences, HCR worked with broadcasters to develop the programme now used by the First Response Radio Network (FRR) which includes training in the needed equipment, a programming system based on the listeners' need for critical information and a workshop to teach radio journalists, relief workers and government personnel how to put these into use in the field. Since 2007 over 12 workshops have been held across the Philippines, India, Nepal and Indonesia.
In collaboration with First Response Radio, a 5-day workshop and 3-day field trial will be held in Pakistan from 21st to 29th March, 2017. For more information to be a participant or observer, please contact hazeen@h-c-r.org.