Transcript Document 7794630

CHILDREN PARTICIPATING IN
MANAGING RISKS AT PETAPA
COMMUNITY
EL CARRIZAL, CHALATENANGO,
AUGUST 2006
What is the experience about
• Formación y funcionamiento de un Comité de Emergencia en Petapa,
municipio El Carrizal, departamento de Chalatenango.
• Conformado por niños, niñas, jóvenes y algunas personas adultas, con
el propósito es la prevención y atención de emergencias.
• Es un espacio de interacción de la población infantil y adolescente con
la adulta, que permite, que niños y niñas aprendan de las experiencias
de las personas adultas, y que la generación adulta se actualice con
ideas novedosas y creativas de la niñez y adolescencia.
• Conformado por 6 brigadas : Evacuación, Primeros Auxilios, Seguridad,
Medio Ambiente e Intervención en Crisis (psico social)
• Participan 10 niños, 15 niñas y 4 personas adultas.
• Se cuenta con un Plan de Prevención y Mitigación de Desastres,
registrados ante las autoridades del gobierno nacional encargadas de
la atención en caso de emergencia.
Basic Characteristics of Petapa
Located at 95 kilometers from San Salvador, at the border zone with
Honduras.
Characterized by its high risk situation due to droughts, forest fires
and landslides.
CANTÓN PETAPA
O LO S IN G O
R IO S
UM
DEPARTAMENTO DE
CHALATENANGO
PU L
[%
R E P Ú B LIC A D E H O N D U R A S
PE T A P A
E
JO
S
N
S
A
A
.
D
MP
SU
R AS
E SE
R IO
QU
Q
A.
QD
It has 790 inhabitants: 345 male and 445 female, grouped in 200
Y
#
families.
UL
LA T R IN ID A D
Economic activity: Livelihood agriculture (corn and bean)
[%
PO T R E R IL L O S
MUNICIPIO DE
EL CARRIZAL
EL C A R R IZ A L
Y
#
With access to services like energy, water and phone.
VA IN ILL A S
[%
HO N D UR AS
G UA TE MAL A
It has a school that attends to ninth grade, with 260 studentes, 120
Y
#
boys and 140 girls.
OJOS DE AGUA
N
EL SAL VAD O R
LA L A G U N A
O CÉ ANO PAC ÍF IC O
W
E
S
The maximum authority in the place is the Association for Community
Development (ADESCO).
Other organizative spaces: Water Board, School Council Board (CDE)
and Juvenile Group.
Factors for the arise
• The organizational tradition: it is considered that the organization is
the key to solve problems and they had organized in ADESCO,
Water Board, ADESQUITO, Juvenile Group and Emergency
Committee.
• The need “to be ready” to face emergencies
• Plan El Salvador’s strategy: promote the participation of children in
managing risks.
“Began when the principal of school gave us the new that we will be part of this project, because some
workers from Plan had told him that we will be trained in different topics that will prepare us for our future,
about what to do in an emergency”
Workshop with children members of the Emergency Committee
• Community awareness about the need that children participate in
the attention of emergencies and managing risks.
The arising of the Emergency
Committee in Petapa
• In 2005, with the support of Plan El Salvador promoted the creation of
an emergency committee constituted by children and other one
constituted by adults.
“It was Plan that planted the seed, the tree, but in but in the development of the idea we found some
obstacles… There were difficulties to grow up.”
• Promotes the interrelation between the children emergency committee
and the adults emergency committee.
• An emergency committee combined with adults and children was
constituted.
• Join training and actions are realized to face and prevent emergency
situation.
“Began with training from Plan, so we knew that also the children had rights to participate and act,
step by step they were leading us in each training and then we felt supported by the people that
came and so we began… with the presentation of topics about childhood and some information
about risk prevention, it grew up until what it is now and we are now…”
• The basic approach of the committee is to guaranteed the protection of
the children rights in emergencies.
• The environment protection is perceived as a key element to prevent
risks in the community.
Actions realized
• Constant training in topics related with environment protection,
answers facing emergencies, risk prevention and awareness about
the children rights.
“... We had done many actions, among them we stopped the extraction of rock from the river, we have
received some trainees ,… and in my case I feel good because I share with people from other
communities… and now I know, that the adolescents are able to do anything we want”
• Organization of Committees and Brigades.
• Incidence actions in local agents (ADESCO, church, etc) to avoid
the damage of the riverside at Sumpul river and became a risk
factor for children and the community.
• Legalize the emergency committee before the Civil Protection
authorities.
• Elaboration of a Plan to Mitigate and Prevent Risks to face possible
situations of emergency.
“We have made a map where are located the most vulnerable zones, we had created the brigades”
Actions realized
• Elaboration of a map with the vulnerable zones.
• Practices
• Establishment of relations with children and adults from the community
Olosingo, located in Honduras, to protect the basin of the Sumpul river.
“... And also a stop to the extraction of rock from the river, it didn’t have defense and when rise, some of
the houses could be in great danger.”
• Coordination with institutions that work in risk prevention.
• Construction of a retention wall at the school due to the landslide risks, as
the construction of fences.
• Cleaning campaigns and education to prevent emergency situations.
Approach work of the emergency
committee
• The most important and the center of the action is the protection to the
children rights, and guaranteed their participation in all the decisions taken to
face the emergency.
• Promote the interaction between the experiences of the adults and the
creativity and enthusiasm of the children and adolescents, facilitating a
process in which the differences of ideas, ages and approach are respected,
about the different problems in the place.
“...we had coexisted with adolescents from other communities… we had learned to relate with adults, it is
been useful to feel us important and that we value”
• Formation of capacities in children to face emergencies and prevent risks.
• Inter-institutional coordination between the committee, the school, the health
facility, the municipality, the PNC and Plan El Salvador; to face coordinately the
emergencies.
Main achievements
• Children from the committee had acquired capacities and tools to face
emergency situations.
“before I didn’t know what to do in a disaster and now I do and I feel more confident and being part of
a group makes me feel stronger”
• Community organizative level that facilitates the protection, not just to
the children rights, but the community.
• Prohibition to avoid the extraction of rock and sand from the Sumpul
river, to guaranteed the children right to protection and recreation.
“a very important action that we did was to avoid the extraction of rock from the river… we should have
the risk that the river will dry and we are out of water… we made signs to forbid the extraction, we made
an agreement with other community in Honduras and we prevent the extraction of rock… we had talked
and told to many people the things we kinow so they can act in a disaster like we do and could help us”.
• Children become a referent actor in the topic of attention and prevention
of risk for neighbor communities like Olosingo, with whose we made
coordinations. coordinaciones.
Main achievements
• People from the community are aware about their duty to
guaranteed the children right of protection facing emergencies and
the importance of the participation of the children in the mitigation
processes and risk prevention.
“the good thing is that we feel more encourage to act in cas of a disaster, to have the right to participate
and make valuable our opinions”
• The children express their ideas and opinions freely which are value
and respected as for children as for adults.
“… the children that are participating will be the facilitators of tomorrow, they will transmit their knowledge
and acquired experience… we didn’t have that chance, if we could have it the things will be different.
Children has fabulous ideas and can give if they have the chance, sometimes they don’t develop their minds
because the parents block them”.
• The respect for the different ideas from boys, girls, adolescents,
women and men had become part of the community daily life.
“… we had learned to coexist with the adults and we know that they and we have ideas, sometimes
different but both are important... They had valued this ideas and we valued their ideas too... Sometimes
we felt that we have less value because we were younger than the adults but now we know that we are the
same... All of us have new ideas to share”.
Obstacles
• Lack of confident in the parents about the participation of children
in activities from the Emergency Committee, they didn’t let them go.
“Many relatives don’t support us because they say that we can’t stop the land to prevent a landslide but I
told them that we couldn’t stop the land but we can do something to prevent it; my brothers support me
because they say that in the future I can be an example for other children in El Salvador and other
countries”
• Criticizes from the people for the participation of the children, which
they think is a waste of time, or like a negative element for personal
formation. They put them nicknames: parrots and “catalnicas”.
“The people that see us for the first time, humiliate us, giving us nicknames or told us that we are not going
to do nothing”
• The children state that one of the main obstacles they found was
“the shy”, so at the beginning they presented shyness attitudes that
didn’t allow them to express their ideas.
• The committee doesn’t have the resources (money, materials and
medicines) to do the actions projected.
How they look themselves in the future
• “With more experience and knowledge about what to do in case of a
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
problem in the community…, we have the resources and tools for it”
“United, strength and team work”
“With availability to help other people from the community to face the
difficulties caused by the emergencies”.
“Sharing the acquired knowledges and preparing more children to
continue the effort and value and care much more their environment”.
“Valueing the children rights and ourselves”.
“Learning more every day through the training”
“Happy and optimistic to remember and see what we have done. Proud
of ourselves and the other members of the community”.
“With more bravery to face the different problems, without fear to face
any situation that could happen in the future and never stay behind”
“With a beautiful river, with more stones and much water”.
“With a better future, with better conditions for all, less threats and less
disasters”
“Establishing coordinations and support between the adults and children,
in order to capitalize the experience and impregnate the creativity and
enthusiasm”.
Messages from children
Literary expression of the children