Capacity Building Initiative for Disaster Survivors

Time slows down to a crawl, an exasperating dragging of seconds, minutes, hours, days in which most of what you do is relive the experience of losing loved ones, of all your goals, dreams, efforts being washed away in an instant. That is the reality of most disaster survivors living today in shelter. Add to that the uncertainty of the future: Will we be able to go back to our homes, will we be able to rebuild, is it safe, will we be relocated, will a second tsunami come? and the situation is enough to take a significant toll in the spirit, health and even in the behavior of most people.

Although time seems to stand still in the shelters, truth is that it flows continuously and we could all work together to turn the time spent by the survivors in the shelters into an opportunity to learn and develop valuable, practical skills that will keep them busy, return a sense of usefulness and normality and can even get them to become self-reliable, income generating productive members of the post-disaster societies they now belong too. It should not be that difficult: after all, most of them had real jobs, business, passions, hobbies and regular activities before being confined in the shelters. Let's work with them so that they can return to the routine of a productive life of learning, sharing and value generation.

Relief 2.0 is working in enabling a collaborative platform for creating, distributing and improving short capacity building units which can be freely distributed and imparted in shelters by anyone and even be completed collaboratively as a group.

The "Capacity Building" lessons are action oriented, short, deliverable in one or very few sessions to achieve high rates of completion, use active learning and project based learning techniques, supported by visual, non-digital materials. Their content, methodology and support material can be digitally distributed (downloaded) so that local partner organizations can easily replicate the courses in the field and in remote areas without the need of digital equipment, connectivity or electric power.

These lessons are collaboratively created by global partners and local organizations and shared to create a large, open database of practical training units which local organizations and individuals anywhere can access and use to build local capacity.

These capacity building units are to comply with at least the following characteristics:

• Consisting in one or few sessions to be completed in:
  • 15, 30, 45, 90 and 180min. format.Activity based.
• Applied knowledge: Must cover Relevant Content and Skills to enable them to become productive in practical areas relevant to their environment and current conditions.
• which will reward or provide a clearly Identifiable Benefit for the participating survivors.
• Easy to impart, follow and complete.
  • Easily and affordably reproduced and distributed by anyone.
  • Easily taught by anyone.
• Engaging, short and with practical value, raising the interest of the people.
• Graphic/visual printed support: graphically oriented communication and with value for literate and illiterate people.

Some of the challenges we face to implement the project in the shelters are:

• Certification: A mechanism or a number of partnerships must be attained in order to provide formal certifications to the participants in the lessons.
• Methodology: Special care must be put to follow a methodology that promotes participation and maintains the survivors engaged and with their minds focus in the development of skills.
• Limited attention span and continuity: It is difficult to ensure attendance or even significant attention span by survivors.

Some examples of the lessons are...

• For adults.
  • Survival skills.
  • Repair, sanitation, paperwork, Do-it-yourself (DIY).
  • Build water filter, fix heater,
  • Social entrepreneurship business ideas and plans.
  • Business creation and growth opportunities in times of crisis.
  • Creative thinking.
  • Creation of water filters.
  • Hygiene basics.
  • Building shelters and basic structures.
  • Collaboration strategies.
  • Basic electric engineering skills: alternative generation of energy, repairs.
  • Basic design, carpentry, construction skills: shelter and basic structures, repairs, etc.
  • Social and Community Management, Conflict resolution, etc.
• For children and youngsters.
  • Curriculum based: More traditional education units for the younger ones, including math, literacy, geography, etc.
  • Fun.
  • Social skills.
  • Creativity and Active Learning.

This is a specific opportunity which can be addressed and where many of us can participate. We will soon invite everyone to submit their ideas, proposals or full lessons to share.