Project News

Disaster Management Duck dance by kinder garden kids

On September 27th, 31 members of Tateyama Sabo women's salon (Chairman: Prof.Noriko Obata in Toyama University of International Studies) visited Jogjakarta and reviewed the activities of the Urgent Disaster Reduction Project for Mt. Merapi/Progo River Basin and disaster sites of pyroclastic flows in 2006.

Tateyama Sabo women's salon is an association founded in 2001 to conduct PR regarding the importance of Sabo (Erosion and Sediment Control) and to broaden a sense of danger against disasters. 280 members are belonging to the salon as PR staffs, and they are mothers in Toyama area. Their activities are joining to Sabo seminars, study meetings, and visiting neighbor Sabo facilities. Also, oversea trainings have been conducted since 2004. This is 7th oversea training following Nepal, Korea, Italy, Switzerland, Canada, and New Zealand.

The Urgent Disaster Reduction Project for Mt. Merapi/Progo River Basin is a part of" Urgent Disaster Reduction Project for Mt. Merapi/Progo River Basin and Mt. Bawakaraeng", a JICA's ODA Loan Project. The project is working on construction of Sabo facilities for the area's sustainable development thorough disaster prevention. Also the project introduces Disaster Management Duck dance (a pose game which purposes to learn the first movement in the event of disaster) to kinder garden kids for improving disaster awareness among residents.

The Salon members had overview lecture about the project at the project office. Then with a guide of Professor Djoko Legono in Gadjah Mada University, they visited a kinder garden and watched Disaster Management Duck dance, which was an achievement of disaster prevention training. Also, they visited Kemiren village where the project is working on and had contact with villagers. After they visited the disaster sites of pyroclastic flows in 2006, Sabo facilities, and Volcano museum, they finished the review.