ASB Runs Earthquake Drill at Day Care Center

On June 15, NGO Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund (ASB) and the Emergency Management Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs conducted an earthquake drill at Aisi Day Care Center for Children & Youth with Disabilities within the framework of the “We are ready! Disability Inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction Education for the Culture of Safety” project which is financed by the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations.

The main goal of the project is to introduce a learning course in target educational institutes and increase the capacity of DPOs and NGOs working on the problems of people with disabilities to ensure their active participation in disaster risk reduction issues. The program itself aims to increase communities' resilience and reduce their vulnerability.

There are 60 young people and 20 staff members at the Aisi Day Care Center for Children & Youth with Disabilities where the earthquake drill was held. Various governmental and non-governmental organizations were also in attendance at the event.

GEORGIA TODAY heard from Nana Tsartsidze, Director of the Center, following the drill. “This event was all the children were talking about for the past month!”

One of the “earthquake victims” during the drill, Dato, who was “evacuated” by the emergency team, is the head of a student self-government and told us how much he had enjoyed the event. “I saw how happy the kids were and how nice everyone was to them. I’m planning to found my own daycare center just like this one,” he said.

"It was a great learning experience to ensure preparedness, first of all, of course, for the teachers and children of the daycare center, and secondly for the rescue teams of the Emergency Management Agency who got very good practice on how to behave with children who might react differently than they are used to,” said Matthias Wohlfeil, ASB country director.

Launched in 1996, the Disaster Preparedness ECHO program (DIPECHO) has been the core element of ECHO's DRR global efforts, in which it has thus far invested €325 million.

By Katie Ruth Davies