By Lusekero Mhango
Salvation Army, a Koronga based Non-Governmental Organization has underscored the need to impart disaster resilience knowledge To Village Civil Protection Committees (VCPC) in a bid to Build Community Resilience during disasters.
Programme Manager for the Organization Mathews Tulombolombo, said this recently during a training for VCPC’s in the area of Chikutu in Traditional Authority Kilipula in the district.
According to the Programme Manager, the aim of the training was to build community capacity on how to react when disaster strikes.
He said resilience will assist communities to be prepared if disaster happens in their communities hence easing some of the effects of disasters like floods.
“With components like environmental protection, early planting, planting fast growing crops, like mutaya nkhasu, can help communities just to bend and not to break when disaster hits”
“If communities just bend there are more hops of coming back to normal life after the disaster than breaking where hopes of normal life after disaster remain in doubts” he explained.
He notes that as Karonga is faced with disasters almost every year hence the importance of imparting knowledge to VCPC’s so as to train others on prevention, mitigation and protection.
Peter Mkandawire a participant to the training from village head Chisi in the area said the training has helped them to know some of the things that were not known to them on how people themselves can prevent disaster.
Mkandawire who also doubles as CBO committee member said he was not aware that people have the responsibility to avert disaster or prepare so that not to suffer after the strike until drilled through building community resilience training.
“It’s now our time to let other people in our different areas know our responsibility in preventing and managing disaster” he said.
Fedis Nyankhonde said through the training she has been able to know that women also have a big role to play in their areas in preventing disasters.
She said most of the times women are left behind in most activities hence they are always victims of the disasters.
She therefore applauded Salvation Army for diversifying the participants so that women can also have the same disaster prevention, mitigation and protection knowledge as men.
