Almost two years after the tsunami, the Indonesian Red Cross Society (PMI) continues to scale up its disaster preparedness. To commemorate the International Risk Reduction Day, 12 October, PMI, together with the United Nations and other organizations, organized the school road show for disaster awareness to increase knowledge among primary school students in Jakarta. In one day, 30 volunteers from different organizations visited 15 schools and trained around 1,300 children, including many Red Cross youth members, in disaster preparedness during fires, floods and earthquakes.

The volunteers were pre-trained in disaster preparedness as well as in teaching methods, and planned the two-hour sessions together. Using methods such as simulation, story telling, drawing, singing, question-answer and games, they taught disaster awareness to the young participants. At the end, the groups were presented with disaster preparedness kits, including a snake and ladder game developed and produced by PMI to improve disaster awareness.
When evaluating the activity, the volunteers found that most students had enough knowledge on the definitions of disaster, causes and effects, but they needed to learn more about what to do when a disaster strikes. Although the sessions were too short, the methods used made the students enjoy learning more about disaster preparedness, and schools ask for a second round of this activity!