A sunny, late September morning in the remote, mountain village of Kachamandi, in Rasht province, Tajikistan (population 2,000). When the villagers noticed Red Crescent vehicles and people in red jackets arriving early that morning, they knew it heralded the beginning of an earthquake simulation exercise. The exercise was meant to reproduce similar conditions to the real disaster which devastated their village on 22 July 2007, killing three people and affecting more than 8,000.
Hundreds of villagers gathered to watch and participate in the exercise with the two freshly-arrived Red Crescent Society of Tajikistan (RCST) teams. “Disaster preparedness skills need to be refreshed and upgraded annually, just as much as first aid skills,” explains Saiuluyun Giyosov, RCST disaster programme coordinator, as Red Crescent teams set out to begin simulation assessments of the situation.
“There are only 12 of us in the team and we know that without volunteers from the local community we will not be able to put together a good operation,” notes Nigora Sharifova, a 44-year-old nurse from the local hospital, as she was treating an “injured” boy lying on a stretcher in the first aid tent. “Being a volunteer with the Red Crescent national team makes me confident that help can be delivered in time to people in need, irrespective of who they are. It also helps me get rid of the fear of a disaster, which can paralyze your mind and capacities,” she said. “With this preparation we feel armed, connected and capable of responding quickly.”
In July 2007, as a member of the Red Crescent disaster response team, Nigora was one of the first to arrive in the village of Kaznok, in Rasht province, after the powerful earthquake struck the village, leaving dozens of families without homes. Only six hours after the disaster, Red Crescent workers and volunteers were delivering first aid and distributing food, clothes, kitchen sets, bed linen, shovels, jerry cans and other relief items dispatched from the local Red Crescent warehouse, as well as providing moral support. Red Crescent tents were set up near the village to accommodate the affected families.
“For us that operation was the first one to be carried out within the national contingency plan adopted by the Tajikistan Red Crescent in May 2007,” says Shamsudin Muhudinov, International Federation Disaster Management Coordinator in Dushanbe. “The plan combines the resources of the country’s eleven regional disaster response teams. That includes trained personnel, relief goods, vehicles, and communications equipment. The standardized operating procedures and access to regional stocks helped us respond quickly and efficiently. Today’s exercise helps to refresh these procedures and maintain them for the future,” he adds.
Young people as well as senior citizens participate in the exercise. “Tajik traditions demand approval from the seniors, and if they are with us - they then recognize the importance of disaster preparedness for all,” says Saiuluyun Giyosov, a disaster programme coordinator from Rasht. Kiyomiddin-aka, a 63-year-old pensioner, comes to take part in the exercise. He remembers how he and his 25-member family all lived in Red Crescent tents for five months until their house was repaired. Part of the house is still destroyed and he brought his grandson to the exercise.
“Both the young and the old need to know what to do in disasters, how to help oneself as well as neighbours,” he says. We experienced the importance of such skills last year when people in Red Crescent jackets appeared in the village during the earthquake – equipped and confident of their action among us.”
“When a disaster strikes there is no time to establish contacts and find out where the relief supplies are located – we must be ready to act at a moment’s notice – that is the purpose of annual training and simulation exercises, both in Tajikistan and in the entire Central Asia region,” says Shamsudin Muhudinov.
Every year Tajikistan – a tiny country at the foothills of the Pamir mountains – is the site of up to 50 natural disasters – earthquakes, mud and landslides, floods, droughts or cold waves. Complementing the efforts of the state and other organizations, the Red Crescent disaster response teams (DRT) are always there to help people overcome the crisis.
In January 2007, and with financial support from the European commission for humanitarian aid (ECHO), the Red Crescent Society of Tajikistan started to develop their national contingency plan, which included extensive training programme for disaster response teams. The teams are positioned around the country, with the capacities to reach a disaster site within three hours of the event.
The national contingency plans of the five Central Asian countries provided the basis for the regional plan that was adopted in November 2007. The regional plan includes risk and resource maps, standard procedures for coordination and action at each stage of the response, mobilization agreements, and contact lists. It is meant to speed response to natural catastrophes and also includes pre-positioning relief stocks in each of the five countries.