By James Robertson

An innovative new game that teaches Samoan pre-schoolers how to respond in case of a natural disaster is now on its way to classrooms all across the Pacific.

The government's early childhood materials on disaster preparation were developed in response to the 2009 tsunami and to meet the challenge of running a public awareness campaign that children can understand and pay attention to. 

The result is a new take on an old classic: Snakes and Ladders.

T


and what they can do to stay safe. The three natural hazards for which Samoa is extremely at risk are, Cyclones, Earthquakes and Tsunamis. These were introduced to pre-schoolers through the game using both English and Samoan languages and a flip chart with illustrated 

The Samoan disaster team realised that it was difficult to include disaster education as early as pre-school. Therefore, through the introduction of an innovative and targeted Snakes and Ladders game, the disaster messaging for pre-schoolers became a more relevant and more interesting for children.


The disaster-related materials were produced jointly as the brainchild of the Disaster Management Office and the Pacific Community's program: Biu

 Disaster Management Office (DMO) together with the Pacific Community’s (SPC) Building Safety and Resilience in the Pacific (BSRP) project 


Lameko Asora, ACEO Disaster Management Office, explained that the idea behind Samoa’s awareness programs. “Our campaigns run all year round in newspapers, radio, and television. They were designed for the audience above the 3- 5 years but we identified this age group as one of the most vulnerable groups during a disaster. So we brain stormed with SPC and tried to find a way to introduce disaster studies to kids at a very young age and at the same time be informative as well.”

graphics to help children understand how to identify and what to do if disaster strikes.

Teachers were tasked to evaluate student’s responses towards the game and how effective it was in stimulating disaster awareness in class.

“The toolkits went out with an evaluation form and we are pleased to share that the feedback received were generally positive,” Asora explained. “The feedback was so positive, that we plan to have it in place at 124 preschools in the coming year.

At the launch of the teacher’s learning toolkit in Samoa earlier this year, the Associate Minister of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Taefu Lemi Taefu stressed the holistic approach Samoa has taken up in the area of disaster preparedness.

“The children are our future, they are our future leaders, feeding them knowledge and education for disaster preparedness can provide life-saving and life-sustaining information and skills that protect them now and the future during and after any disasters and emergencies. I must emphasize that Samoa is committed in addressing and achieving a whole-of-society approach to reduce disaster and climate change induced risks and increase our country's resilience.”

This innovative game is now being requested by other countries in the region. This was evident during the Building Safety and Resilience in the Pacific Project Steering Committee meeting this week, in which Cook Islands and Tonga were among the countries who expressed interest in adapting the game to their own countries.


IMG_8201.JPG
This innovative game is now being requested by other countries in the region


Charles Carlson, Director of Cook Islands National Disaster Management Office expressed his confidence that the Snakes and Ladders game would benefit everyone in the region. “Where we are lacking is having that disaster management being taught in schools. Now we want to have that game as an introduction into the school. We probably use that as part of our awareness as well, we have the cyclone season in a couple of months’ time and we will use that as part of promotion into the schools and to the wider community as well.

Taito Nakalevu, BSRP Project Manager, echoed Cook Islands comments saying that “Samoa's young generations are tomorrow’s key community leaders. This supports early understanding of disasters and hazards to increase long-term disaster preparedness for our region into the future.”

The Building Safety and Resilience in the Pacific project (BSRP) is a €19.36 million project supported by the European Union and implemented by the Pacific Community (SPC).  This project directly responds to the African Caribbean & Pacific (ACP) group of states and the European Union’s (EU) priorities identified under the 2009 European Union strategy for Supporting Disaster Risk Reduction.

The current version of the project will end in December 2019.

By James Robertson

Trending Stories

Samoa Observer

Upgrade to Premium

Subscribe to
Samoa Observer Online

Enjoy unlimited access to all our articles on any device + free trial to e-Edition. You can cancel anytime.

>