Myanmar: Never too young to stay safe from disasters

The 3 – 5 year old children at the Nat Maw ECCD centre are busy playing, learning colours and singing songs. But this group of children and their teachers know what to do if a disaster strikes, and how to stay safe.

“Before, we didn’t know what to do if there was an emergency,” said Tin Moe Moe Win, one of the teachers at the centre. “Now we’ve had the Safe Schools DRR training we know not only how to care for the children but how to prepare the children for when disasters occurs.”

Nat Maw village is located in Rakhine State, Myanmar, which is one of the most disaster-prone parts of the country. Its proximity is close to the Bay of Bengal which means that the village frequently suffers from cyclones, floods and unpredictable weather patterns.

The ECCD centre has been open for 1 year but has already flooded 3 times, and the water can reach a depth of 1 meter. For Tin Moe Moe Win, keeping her students safe in an emergency is an important part of her job.

“We always listen to the radio and when we hear there has been a disaster we know to stop, close the centre and make sure the children can get home, or to an evacuation centre,” she explains. “We have an evacuation map in the ECCD centre, so the students know where we have to go if there’s an emergency. They all know to go to the monastery or the school, as they are the highest parts of the village.” Letting others in her community know about the disaster is also key, so community leaders can alert others and begin making preparations. “If we hear there has been a disaster, we also need to contact the School Disaster Management Committee and the Village Development Committee. After that we will take the children to the evacuation centers,” she explains.

“We have an evacuation map in the ECCD centre, so the students know where we have to go if there’s an emergency. We have to go to the school first, and if the path is blocked we go to the monastery,” said Tin Moe Moe Win. “It’s very good that we have a disaster preparedness program. Parents also know how to contact each other if there’s a disaster so they can work together to keep the children safe. When another cyclone happens, we’ll know what to do.” The children aren’t just learning about how to respond to disasters, but how to stay safe and protect the environment during their daily lives. “The children are getting smarter about what risks, hazards and disasters are. They also have knowledge about plants, conserving trees, science and environmental issues. We talk to the children about these things. It’s important for the children to get practical experience about conservation.”

The Nat Maw ECCD centre has its own garden where teachers and the children have planted seeds together. This has been a chance for the students to learn about the life cycle of nature and how to care for the environment.

The students will soon be able to learn more about disaster preparedness through songs about staying safe and colouring sheets that are designed to convey simple messages to the children in a fun and engaging way.

The community in Nat Maw co-funded the construction of their pre-school together with Plan International Myanmar. This is the first time ECCD has been offered in Nat Maw village and is supporting children to get the best possible start in life before they transition into primary school.

To date 120 children at 3 ECCD centers in Rakhine State have learnt about disaster risk management through the Safe Schools project with support from Plan International Sweden.