Global Disaster Reduction and Relief

In 2020, we were facing global human casualties and economic losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the pandemic, global warming continues to affect the occurrence of extreme climates. In the spring of 2020, Siberia in the Arctic Circle, experienced a historically high temperature of 38 degrees of Celsius, and in Taiwan, we spent a year of no typhoon, which is rare. Changes in extreme climates have caused disasters and damages beyond our predictions and imaginations, but most of us are like frogs boiled in warm water—lack sensitivity of disaster alerts. Through the community links, the Mustard Seed Mission continues to conduct community disaster prevention advocacy and self-development courses in all corners of Taiwan to enhance the disaster prevention awareness of community residents.

 In April this year, a course on community self-disaster prevention training was conducted in Taiyuan Village of Donghe Township and 8 communities of Guanshan Township of Taitung County in Taiwan. Taking the 1995 Hanshin Earthquake in Japan as an example, more than 70% of rescues had been completed before the official rescue units arrived. The ratio of self-help: mutual assistance: public assistance was "7:2:1". It can be seen that in facing large-scale disasters, in addition to self-help, mutual assistance between communities is even more important. Participants in the training courses are all cadres, village officials, directors of community associations, and patrol teams, the caring mother club, and the volunteers. They become the frontline community seeds for training through their knowledge of the community and their attention to community issues. In the course, it is necessary not only to establish correct disaster prevention knowledge, but also to gather community consensus through step-by-step group tasks, to check the stock of community resources, and to find potential disaster areas, emergency refuges, escaping routes, etc..

In the course, the participant residents were very enthusiastic in exchanging information and discussion. This helped to condense everyone's feelings and identification with the community. During a simulated disaster and the arrangement of disaster relief work, some people were willing to provide drones, and some who are professional attendants were willing to assist the elderly in resettlement, and some had an excavator license. Everyone was willing to use their expertise and resources to share mutual assistance with the community at this moment. Thus, the course not only arouses everyone's awareness of disaster prevention, but also affects the emotions of the community.

After class, a resident said: "In the future, when we gossip in the community, we must talk about disaster prevention, so that we can teach these precious concepts to everyone!" In fact, "disaster prevention is an attitude to life." The community's awareness of disasters helped the residents to realize the importance of disaster prevention by organizing their own teams, dividing labor, and practicing. Frequent disasters caused by extreme weather is an inevitable fact. The only thing that can be done is to reduce the impact. When facing a disaster, it is not to escape but to seek for survive. Mutual assistance between neighbors is an important key to disaster relief. Only by taking the environment and disasters can we be prepared, and we can reduce the threat of disasters with more preparedness for disaster prevention!