To help strengthen communities’ disaster preparedness, PLDT wireless unit Smart Communications Inc. recently organized an emergency response and management training for college students in Leyte.
The activity is part of the TNT Tropang Ready caravan, which aims to empower the youth to be disaster-resilient as well as be able to disseminate the preparedness lessons in their own communities.
The caravan is an initiative under Smart’s advocacy for a #SafePH, which promotes preparedness through mobile solutions and on-ground activities to help communities mitigate disaster risks.
This “Training of Trainers” program will enable the youth to become ambassadors of preparedness in their own communities, according to Smart community partnerships senior manager Nova Concepcion.
“We aim to integrate disaster preparedness in the educational curriculum,” Concepcion said. “It is important to equip students with the necessary skills to be able to mobilize members of their households and their communities when disasters strike.”
The need for disaster preparedness has been highlighted in recent years in the aftermath of the devastation wrought by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” across the Visayas in November 2013.
Lawyer Maria Jane Paredes, Smart AVP and Visayas-Mindanao public affairs head, pointed out the role of the youth in disseminating disaster readiness.
“The youth of Eastern Visayas play an important role in propagating a culture of preparedness, most especially since they have experienced calamities like Yolanda,” Paredes said. “We are moving on from what happened four years ago. It’s time to rise by acquiring new skills so that we are better prepared.”
The trainings were held at Southern Leyte State University in Sogod and Eastern Visayas State University in Tacloban City.
Louie Domingo and Kris Lorraine Tayer of Emergency Management Center taught the students how to prepare for and what to do during typhoons, earthquakes, landslides and tsunamis, among other calamities.
Among the lessons they shared were first aid and self-defense techniques, and pointers on how to assemble a “Go Bag” or an “e-Balde,” an emergency kit meant to help an individual or a family survive the next few days following a calamity.
The kit includes canned food, water, flashlight, batteries, cell phone and an umbrella, among other essentials.
The students were also tapped to be online ambassadors of the Tropang Ready Facebook community, highlighting how social media can help engage the youth to become more involved in community preparedness and response efforts.
SLSU student and Supreme Student Republic president Khesiya Mae Manlangit, who attended the training, noted how social media could be helpful in times of calamities.
“A lot of young people get their information on Facebook, so if we flood them with information on disaster preparedness, everyone will be curious and also want safety for themselves,” she said.
The training could not have come at a better time, Manlangit added. “This activity is very timely because, to be honest, less attention is given to disaster preparedness programs,” she said. “Our community is prone to disaster, so this activity is very important.”
Alexis Fustanes, an SLSU student and student council officer, also stressed the importance of being prepared.
“We have to know not just what to do after a calamity, but also how to be prepared, for us to be able to save lives and stay safe as well,” said Fustanes, who also participated in the Tropang Ready training.