Steps to greater resilience

If we are frequently affected by extreme events such as earthquakes, floods, hurricanes or droughts, we may not be able to recover from one event before we are affected by another.

For example, in November 2020 Hurricane Eta brought torrential rain, high winds, floods and storm surges to Central America, causing widespread devastation in areas already affected by food insecurity and limited healthcare. Then, just two weeks later, Hurricane Iota affected many of the same communities, leaving them in an even worse situation.

We may think of storms, earthquakes and droughts as 'natural disasters' that we can do nothing about. We might remain resigned, waiting for help from the government, relief organisations or other countries.

This external support may save lives in the short term, but we are likely to be left with significant unmet needs, making it more difficult for us to cope when another emergency happens. As a result, we may find ourselves living in almost constant crisis, with short- and long-term effects on our physical and mental health.

Moving forward

Use the following three activities to help your community understand that rather than simply waiting for help from outside, the best way to move beyond constant crisis is to build your own resilience.

Try to involve as many people in the discussions as possible, including children, people with disabilities, young and older men and women.

Learn more: Community focus group discussions – online course

1. What is a disaster?

Read Matthew 7:24-27

This passage reminds us to build our lives on the strong foundation of Jesus’ teachings. It can also help us to understand the difference between a hazard and a disaster.

Two houses were exposed to the same storm and the same winds (the hazard), but only one of them collapsed. The disaster was not the storm or the winds. The disaster was the damage and losses that occurred when one of the houses collapsed.

If the house had not been built on sand, it would not have collapsed. And if the storm and winds had not happened, the house would not have collapsed.

There was nothing that could have been done to stop the storm. But different choices could have been made about where and how to construct the house.

Discuss

• What are some of the reasons why a house might collapse in a storm? (Examples: built on poor-quality land prone to erosion, landslides or flooding; poor-quality construction and materials; inadequate foundations.)
• What might be the underlying causes? (Examples: poverty or discrimination causing people to construct houses in high-risk areas; not enough money to buy good-quality materials; lack of knowledge; corruption.)

Reflect

• What was the last disaster that occurred in your community? (Think about the human and material losses, rather than the hazardous event.)
• What were the physical, emotional and economic impacts on the population?
• How might the disaster have been avoided?
• Was the disaster made worse by human activity? How?
• If your community was a house, would you say it is built on rock or sand? Why?

2. What are the risks?

Draw a map of your community showing:

• natural features such as rivers, springs, wetlands, forests and hills, also farmland and grazing land
• infrastructure such as houses, shops and markets, roads, bridges, health facilities, businesses, emergency services, schools, religious buildings, community centres, government buildings
• utilities such as water points, latrines, drainage systems, power supplies, areas where solid waste is collected or dumped

Make a list of hazards that occur in your area, for example storms, earthquakes, fires, landslides, floods, droughts or conflict.

For each hazard on your list, ask the following questions, using your map to help you:

• Which buildings or structures are most at risk?
• Which people in particular areas are most at risk?
• What impact might there be on livelihoods, crops and animals?
• What impact would there be on water and food supplies?
• What impact would there be on communications (roads, bridges, telephones)?
• How might health, education, sanitation, electricity and other services be affected?

Use a bright colour to mark on the map areas of the community that you think are most at risk of being affected by the hazards you have identified. Write or draw a list of the people who would be worst affected.

Learn more: Community mapping – online course

3. What can we do to reduce these risks?

Visit the areas you have marked on the map and discuss what could be done to reduce the risk of disaster in these areas.

Ideas might include:

• changing farming practices
• restoring the environment
• improving infrastructure (roads, public buildings, water points, power supplies, etc)
• taking action to prepare for hazards, such as storing food and fuel
• developing early warning systems

Focus on using skills and resources already available in your community wherever possible.

Discuss

• What changes would help your community to become more resilient to disaster?
• What strategies and activities would help you to achieve these changes over the short and longer term, in the most cost-effective and impactful way?
• What resources would you need (eg skills, time, labour, money, materials)?
• Which of these resources do you already have in your community?
• Can you ask local government representatives for support?
• Who else can get involved?

Take action

Once you and your community have worked through these activities, you will be ready to develop and implement an action plan to help build community resilience.

There are many resources available to help you do this.

The important thing is to make a start. Every action you take to reduce the risk of disaster in your community is an action worth taking.