A Storm of Activity

Written by Tran Thi Thuy – Agriculture Project Assistant, Trieu Phong ADP

“One storm was very fierce this year, but our house was safe,” said Nguyen Thi Phuong thankfully. “My mother and I knew how to reinforce it and to move to a safer area before the storm came.”

Phuong is the only child of Mrs Truong Thi Gai, 48, who lives in central Quang Tri province. Mrs Gai was born mute, but despite this limitation, she actively participates in her village’s social activities and World Vision events – such as an educational campaign on disaster prevention and mitigation.

As a single mother with a disability, Mrs Gai has faced many challenges in her life in Trieu Phong district. She survives by finding and selling dry wood. Most of her limited income is spent on her daughter, but she saves a little here and there until after many years, she had enough to build a small house.

But in 2009, disaster struck when Typhoon Xangsane hit central Vietnam and the new house collapsed.

“I was so scared. We [Mrs Gai and Phuong] slammed the front door behind us and ran to a neighbour’s house,” Phuong recalled. “After the storm had gone, we went back home and there was nothing left. The roof had blown off and everything was drenched, including all my books.”

To improve local people’s abilities to respond to disasters, since 2011 World Vision’s Trieu Phong Area Development Programme (ADP) have been training youngsters ages 10-15 and their parents on disaster prevention and household disaster planning.

Mrs Gai was invited to a training session in 2013. She used sign language to communicate with her daughter, who accompanied her, and Phuong translated her mother’s ideas for the trainers.

Local volunteers gave Mrs Gai a template document on disaster prevention planning for her to complete about what she should do before, during and after a storm. She discussed the process with her daughter, then the trainers used the document to record her plan of action.

“Up to 200 households live in areas vulnerable to disasters in our community,” commented Mr Nguyen Minh Kiem, leader of the flood and storm prevention department for Mrs Gai’s village.

“Since World Vision conducted the first training course three years ago, we have made plans on disaster prevention and reduction,” stated Mr Kiem. “Based on these plans, we have assisted families to move to safer areas before storms arrive. In particular, we have taken special care of the 15 people with disabilities living in areas of risk.”

To date, all village leaders among the ADP’s nine targeted districts have made disaster risk reduction plans. In those villages, over 900 households have made specific plans for their families.

Trieu Phong ADP will continue to train more local villagers on drafting and putting disaster risk reduction plans into practice in the near future.