Japanese High School Students and Junior and Senior High School Students in Banda Aceh City Learn from Each Other - The Importance of Continuing to Pass on Lessons to the Next Generation

Back on December 26th, 2004, a devastating earthquake and tsunami struck Aceh, Indonesia. In the efforts to rebuild and recover, JICA Partnership Program (JPP) is being implemented under joint collaboration between Banda Aceh City and Kamaishi City/ Nebama Mind to form and implement a tsunami disaster prevention program where with the participation of local residents.

December 20-21. Under the JICA Partnership Program (JPP), four students from Otsuchi High School in Iwate Prefecture visited Aceh and shared their experience and activities on disaster prevention with Aceh's junior and senior high school students.

The Otsuchi High School students spoke about the importance of disaster prevention education, citing as an example the fact that most elementary and junior high school students in Kamaishi could escape from the Great East Japan Earthquake thanks to disaster prevention education, which is called the Kamaishi Trajectory (kiseki, 軌跡) among Kamaishi children, rather than the Kamaishi Miracle (kiseki, 奇跡). They also said, "It is difficult to prevent disasters, but we believe that human lives can be saved by passing on the lessons learned. We will continue to pass on the lessons and carry out disaster prevention activities for the next generation in order to save as many lives as possible when the next disaster strikes.”

Project manager Ms. Eri Hosoe said, "The purpose of this JPP project is to create a practical tsunami disaster prevention program by sharing Kamaishi City's disaster prevention experience/know-how and thinking together with the people of Aceh. What is important is for everyone to think and practice disaster prevention, regardless of the positions (governmental officials or residents etc.), and to continue to pass on the lessons learned. And the interaction and learning among the younger generation will provide great insights for adults as well."

Mr. Sulaiman Bakrie M.Pd, Head of the Education Department of Banda Aceh City, warmly welcomed the visit by Otsuchi High School and highlighted that while disaster prevention education commenced after 2004 Tsunami, it’s crucial to maintain consistency in the program to ensure a continual understanding of disaster prevention.