iPrepare students: We want to contribute to our community’s preparedness
iPrepare students: We want to contribute to our community’s preparedness
29 May 2014
Hanoi, Vietnam
The iPrepare campaign to increase public awareness of disaster preparedness among university students in Vietnam successfully concluded at the end of May. The campaign encouraged students to explore disaster preparedness in their local communities and share their stories and pictures online during the semester.
Organized in cooperation with Hanoi School of Public Health and Vietnam National University, the iPrepare lectures in Hanoi attracted more than 300 students to learn about disaster preparedness and its cross-cutting nature in different study disciplines. At the closing event, Mr. Ta Huu Chinh from the National Hydro-Meteorological Service of Vietnam gave the students a lecture on the forecast of the upcoming typhoon season.
The best story was rewarded by a panel of judges consisting of the Director of Social News Division of Vietnam Television (VTV) Ms. Ha Thu Hang, representatives of the two universities and ADPC.
The first prize was awarded to Ms. Huong Trieu and Ms. Pham Thi Ha Thu for their video covering flood preparedness in the Muong La district in Vietnam. The panel of judges appreciated the student’s submission for demonstrating a good level of understanding of disaster risk reduction.
“It was sometimes uncomfortable and difficult to interview some people, but it is important that we know about disaster and communicate about the risk”, said Ms. Trieu, happy and surprised for receiving an award.
Her team mate also agreed that the campaign was very important for them. “When we made this video, we learned more about different solutions to reduce disaster risk. We want to contribute something to our community.”
The second award was given to Mr. Le Thi Ngoc for his story on a historic flood in My Duc district in 2008, and the third prize for Ms. Doan Thi Diu, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy and Mr. Le Tuan Anh on their story about hospital preparedness in emergencies.
Launched in March this year, the pilot iPrepare campaign in Vietnam aimed at increasing general awareness of disaster preparedness in communities, and simultaneously equipping the university students with skills to deal with disaster risk in their prospective careers fields.
With support from the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the campaign will be launched in Bangladesh later this year.