Community-Based Disaster Preparedness Project

This communication for disaster risk management project centred around local participation as a core strategy for improving awareness and knowledge of - and attitude in relation to - risks and disasters. In order to build community capacity to enhance the safety of the population at risk, Oxfam GB worked to optimise local knowledge and local resources, as well as to mobilise the creative and innovative energies of local actors (including local artists) and local traditions. This approach to communication and public awareness allowed 22 newly created Local Civil Protection Committees (LCPCs) to design and implement their own information campaigns for their communities.

Interpersonal communication proved crucial in shaping the specific strategies developed to foster a "culture of safety" among the 22 communities at stake. First, Oxfam GB held workshops and follow-up meetings with members of the 22 Local Civil Protection Committees (LCPCs), providing them with (some) funding and technical assistance in developing their own campaigns. As a general pattern, they all decided to combine two communication methods that organisers describe as very popular in Haiti: festive event/community assemblies, and information billboards. To motivate the LCPCs' commitment to developing good-quality campaigns, an incentive would be awarded to the best campaign - in the form of cash toward a community disaster fund.

Specifically, 22 two-sided billboards were set up and strategically positioned in the communities. Designed through active local participation, this represented a "permanent" mode of communication: Most of the billboards were still standing and visible 2 years after the end of the project, according to organisers. This approach to sharing information was combined with a "one-off" component designed to foster ownership by and empowerment of local actors and groups. Organised by the LCPCs, the 22 half-day community assemblies (each of which drew over 400 people) were designed to engage and entertain while educating. To gather people, the events usually started with a soccer match and ended with a dance party. In all the settlements, large decorated podiums were installed with sound systems where the LCPCs held edutainment-style events such as a disaster quiz with small prizes and short drama plays. Some of the LCPCs also invited local singers and dance groups to perform. In addition, a rescue demonstration was held, and formal presentations introduced those gathered to: the committee members and their roles, the community warning and evacuation systems, and the contingency plan.

Risk Management.

Haiti is known for its extreme vulnerability to natural hazards. As reported on the Oxfam GB website, between mid-August 2008 and the following 2 weeks alone, Haiti was hit by 4 hurricanes, affecting an estimated 650,000 people nationwide (per United Nations figures).

The information campaigns described above were followed by several other initiatives part of the larger project, which was designed to reduce the vulnerability to natural hazards of some 80,000 people. Implemented between the second half of 2003 and October 2004, the project included more traditional activities like the use of broadcast media, radio soap opera, print brochures, calendars, celebration of the international Day for Disaster Reduction, and demonstrative measures to reduce risks (e.g., cleaning and rehabilitation of drainage, evacuation stairs, protection walls, etc.). Evaluation of this larger project showed success in facilitating and encouraging the creation of a new social dynamics where people shared values and behaviours indicating cooperation amongst themselves, as well as a proactive responsibility toward the community. Regarding individual attitudes and behaviours, a more responsible and proactive conduct was observed; for example, in anticipation of Hurricane Jeanne, people in Cap Haitian evacuated willingly "for the first time" before it started raining heavily. The presence of about 430 families (2,550 people) from the most high-risk areas was recorded in LCPC-managed evacuation centres the night before that hurricane struck.

2009 Update from Oxfam GB:
"In 2008, four back to back storms battered the entire island, causing colossal damage to infrastructure, agriculture, and personal property....And yet, while the...storms affected more than 800,000 people nation-wide, the number of lives lost - a reported 793 - was just a fraction compared to the more than 3,500 that perished in the 2 storms that hit localized communities in 2004. While several factors contributed, credit must be given to people like 32-year-old Jean Siba Généus, coordinator of the Port au Prince Municipal Disaster Risk Management Committee...'I believe that we are saving lives. In the 2007 and 2008 hurricane seasons, we were extremely prepared at the Committee and community levels, so much so that we did not record high levels of victims....In addition to a door-to-door educational campaign, we identified 10 public buildings as potential temporary shelter. You have to know how to manage a space that you initially planned for 50 people but in the end, end up having 150 people. You have to know how to organize the space taking into consideration adults and children, young people and the elderly, men and women. Oxfam played an important role in training the committee on this.' In August and September 2008, these shelters - like hundreds throughout the country - housed several families who felt that they were in danger. Sometimes people came voluntarily, but sometimes the Committee had to go and get people out of their homes and into the shelters. Geneus is reflective when he says, 'By doing this, I know that we saved lives, because some surely would have died had they not left their homes.'"