13 Oct 2011

GEORGIA / DISASTER RISK REDUCTION

UNICEF and the European Commission are supporting local government and partners in Georgia in developing special Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) educational materials. Now school children in Georgia’s Mleta village, an area prone to mud slides and avalanches, are learning about disaster risk reduction through lessons and games. Wednesday 13 October is International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction. UNICEF

Posted at: October 13, 2011 12:05 pm

Duration: 04:17

Available in: SD

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Full script

STORY: GEORGIA / DISASTER RISK REDUCTION 
TRT: 04:17
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / GEORGIAN / RUSSIAN / NATS
 
DATELINE: 16 JUNE 2011, TBLISI, GEORGIA
 
SHOTLIST:
 
1. Various shots, Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) class at Mleta Public School, students identifying different types of disasters and hazards
2. Various shots, children playing board game from RISKLAND game package developed as teaching aid for DRR instruction
3. SOUNDBITE (Georgian), Nana Zakaidze, Student:
"We knew a little about disasters before, but these games have taught us a lot more."
4. Close shot, flooding hazard game on board
5. Wide shot, classroom and pan to chalk board
6. Med shot, Tornike Gagadze, drawing flooding incident on board
7. SOUNDBITE (Georgian) Tornike Gagadze, Student: 
"This is where the mudslide came down from the forests and blocked the river here."
8.  Various shots, Tornike with UNICEF staff, on banks overlooking Aragvi River, which runs through Mleta community
9. Various shots, Collection of houses where Tornike and family live
10. Med shot, Tornike home, half buried under silt and rubble
11. SOUNDBITE (Georgian), Tornike Gagadze, Student:
"It happened so quickly we only had chance to grab important documents and money and get out. Everything else like furniture, clothes, the television was all lost."
12. Med shot, Tornike's father talking with his son standing in the background.
13. Med shot, Tornike's father speaking to UNICEF officials
14. Wide shot, Caucasus Mountain peaks
15. Wide shot, exterior shot, Mleta public school 
16. Wide shot, tilt down, mountain to river bed
17. Various shots, flowing river 
18. Various shots, walking shot, UNICEF staff with Maia Burduli from the School Disaster Management Board
19. Wide shot, cloudy foothills
20. Med shot, UNICEF staff with Maia Burduli from the School Disaster Management Board
21. Various shot, students with their bag packs walking outside the school
22. SOUNDBITE (Georgian), Maia Burduli, School Disaster Management Board:
"The children are very engaged and carry messages home because it's the kind of life-saving information that you don't forget."
23. Various shots, Disaster Management Board meeting in progress
24. Various shots, local emergency services staff demonstrating equipment to school staff and students
25. Med shot, installation of emergency board on wall with risk mitigation equipment including buckets
26. Various shots, evacuation drill
27. SOUNDBITE (English), Benjamin Perks, UNICEF, Deputy Representative, Georgia:
"The project has also been excellent in a sense that it's got societies and communities to look at DRR through the eyes of those that they hold most precious which is children, and to really consider their responsibility to do the maximum to protect children from the consequences of disaster."
30. Various shots, evacuation drill in progress
31. Various shots, children getting hands on experience with emergency equipment, wearing jackets, gloves, masks and holding torches
32. Med shot, children at Tbilisi Public School #43, using board game materials in DRR class, teacher giving instructions
33. Med shot, Children at Tbilisi Public School #43, using board game materials in DRR class
34. Close shot, books used in DRR class
35. Various shots, student cutting paper 
36. Med shot, students sitting in a group to sketches and back to another group of students with a teacher
37. SOUNDBITE (English) Natia Jokhadze, Director, National Curriculum and Assessment Center: 
"So, DRR issues and topics are included in different curriculum subjects, like natural sciences, social sciences. These DRR topics are taught also separately."
38. Various shots, cutaways, first aid class at the Mleta school
39. Various shots, Tbilisi Public School #43, DRR class in Russian language for ethnic minority children
40. Various shots, children working in groups to produce posters illustrating specific disasters
41. SOUNDBYTE (Russian) Voice of Margo Khundzakishvili, Student:
"This is after an earthquake, and there are buildings falling down, cars are being smashed up and unfortunately one person left inside, shouting for help."
42. Med shot, pan of poster being described.
43. Close shot, poster being described by girl 
44. Various shots, students talking about the poster and sketching on it
45. Med shot, students in DRR class
46. SOUNDBITE (English), Kristalina Georgieva, EU Commissioner Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection:
"Looking forward, in this world of more disasters, more intense conflicts, we see together two very important priorities. One is to collaborate on linking what we do in relief immediately after a disaster with what we do in development. How we provide lifesaving support but then we also provide hope for the future."
47. Med shot, students in the Tbilisi Public School #43 in DRR class
48. Close up, sketch made by students where police helicopters are rescuing a person shouting for help
49. Various shots, children exhibiting their finished posters to rest of class

STORYLINE: 
 
Going through the types of disasters that they hope will never come, but they know might.

These secondary school children in Georgia are now better prepared thanks to the lessons they receive and the games they have been playing.

SOUNDBYTE (Georgian) Nana Zakaidze, Student:
"We knew a little about disasters before, but these games have taught us a lot more."

And some, like 15 year old Tornike Gagadze, know about disasters, first hand.

SOUNDBITE (Georgian), Tornike Gagadze, Student:
"This is where the mudslide came down from the forests and blocked the river here."

One Saturday morning, after torrential rains, a landslide near Tornike's home blocked the Aragvi River, flooding a number of houses alongside it, his included.

SOUNDBITE (Georgian), Tornike Gagadze, Student:
"It happened so quickly we only had chance to grab important documents and money and get out. Everything else like furniture, clothes, the television was all lost."

We often have floods here, his father Vazha Gagadze tells us but last year was worst we've ever had.  Everything was gone in 15 minutes.

Nestling below the towering peaks of the South Peaks of Caucasus Mountains and its foothills, the community of Mleta knows the hazards in their school surroundings, with mud flows in spring and avalanches in winter.

Global climate change is likely to exacerbate extreme weather events leading to more frequent disasters.

They know how important it is for their children to acquire knowledge and skills to protect themselves in the event of a disaster, valuing disaster preparedness activities.

SOUNDBITE (Georgian) Maia Burduli, School Disaster Management Board:
"The children are very engaged and carry messages home because it's the kind of life-saving information that you don't forget."

The Disaster Mangement Board at this school is overseeing preparations to make the new building safe, from the introduction of safety equipment and instruction on its use: to risk mitigation And regular evacuation drills.

It's all part of Disaster Risk Reduction, or DRR.

SOUNDBITE (English) Benjamin Perks, UNICEF, Deputy Representative, Georgia:
"The project has also been excellent in a sense  that it's got societies and communities to look at DRR through the eyes of those that they hold most precious which is children, and to really consider their responsibility to do the maximum to protect children from the consequences of disaster."

With support from UNICEF and the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid Department,  local Government and NGO partners in Georgia have been able to develop special DRR educational materials,  with 25 schools under UNICEF's first ever pilot programme.

DRR will now be included into the national school curriculum starting from September 2011.

SOUNDBITE (English) Natia Jokhadze, Director, National Curriculum and Assessment Center: 
"So, DRR issues and topics are included in different curriculum subjects, like natural sciences, social sciences.  These DRR topics are taught also separately."

At this school in Tbilisi, as in others throughout Georgia, DRR lessons are given not only in Georgian, but also in other languages, reaching ethnic minorities.

SOUNDBITE (Russian) Margo Khundzakishvili, Student:
"This is after an earthquake, and there are buildings falling down, cars are being smashed up and unfortunately one person left inside, shouting for help."

The work on the ground in Georgia is very much in line with the European Union vision.

SOUNDBITE (English), Kristalina Georgieva, EU Commissioner Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection:
"Looking forward, in this world of more disasters, more intense conflicts, we see together two very important priorities. One is to collaborate on linking what we do in relief immediately after a disaster with what we do in development. How we provide lifesaving support but then we also provide hope for the future."

The hope is, when it comes to being prepared for disaster, no child in Georgia will be left behind.