In a disaster, education can make the difference between life and death

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In the UNISDR, we wondered if Tilly’s parents might allow us to use the story to help spread these messages. They agreed, and Tilly herself became involved, including travelling to New York with her family for a media event with the UN Special Envoy for the Tsunami Recovery, President Bill Clinton.

President Clinton remarked that “Tilly’s story tells us about the importance of teaching young people about natural hazards. [It’s] a simple reminder that education can make a difference between life and death.”

It was the start of over a decade of voluntary effort by Tilly to advocate for safer schools and children.

As she later said, in 2016, “I know now that over 60m children are affected every year, mainly by floods, storms and earthquakes... Children are creative and will always come up with good ideas about how to reduce risk in their communities if they are engaged.”

“We also need to make sure that schools are safe from floods and earthquakes. Thousands of schoolchildren have died in earthquakes in the last 10 years.”

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