Education is the key to a well prepared change

“It was not raining when Noah built the arc.” We can never be sure of what will

happen but we can always prepare. It is disturbing to know that after all these years we

have not learned any lessons from all of calamities that has hit our country. We have

already suffered enough from all the typhoons, earthquakes and other natural disasters.

And yet people always seemed to be not prepared at all. Stubborn citizens always end

up going back to disaster prone areas only to be struck down again. Ignorance of the

information for calamity preparedness got the best of them. When will this cycle of

unpreparedness ends? When will this chain of ignorance for preparedness break? The

answer is within our hands. Having the right information and willingness to learn and be

aware plays an important role. It is the breaker of all chains. Cliché as it may sound, but

taking this mindset to heart can sprout real change on how we plan our disaster

management in each community.

Disaster is a catastrophic event whether natural or manmade. Making the

preparation towards dealing with these issues is very important. During the typhoon

Yolanda there is a total of 6,340 fatalities, which proves that people during that time are

not aware and prepared for what is going to hit them. People nowadays are ignoring the

fact that disasters are inevitable making the approach or preparation to it is a must. The

youth are the future as what Jose Rizal said. Making us the one who could educate and

to aware others especially our families for the reason that we have the closest access to

education which is our school. School is where we learn and inform ourselves and by that

we are able to have the knowledge to what proper approach or preparation to take in a

certain disaster. The ignorance of people towards dealing with disasters does not
automatically means that the Institution of Education are the one that is lacking the

dissemination of information. We can also blame the government for they lack the

programs, plans and conference about disasters specifically to inform and teach the

elderly and the parents what practical measures they should take. Making the cycle of

knowledge continue as they share this to their children, neighbors and the people around

them. So in this case everyone is to blame. It might be you who keep ignoring the facts

and happenings around you which makes you stagnant for not even trying to upgrade

your knowledge. Second, the institutions who keep teaching traditional actions which is

not effective anymore. Why? Because if these actions are really helpful then the number

of casualties will not be that high in relation to the number of fatalities of the typhoon

Yolanda. Take “storm surge” for example. People were not aware of its real definition and

to what extent is its impact to the area. We have taken it lightly because of the lack of

proper information that was disseminated and a language barrier. Most of the people

could not understand what a “storm surge” is like due to the language that was use. It

would be better if the government issued a Filipino and ethnic equivalent to this term to

provide an easy way to comprehend. And this should not just apply only to “storm surge”

but also to other terminologies that is confusing to the public.

Furthermore, institution now are diverting themselves to a more innovative ways

on how to deal with disasters. In contrast, for us to prepare we should always have the

effort to find and search for any access to education. Everyone has a role to play and as

a millennial – the new generation of today, we should always find a way to learn in

different ways as possible for we are known to be inclined or exposed to social media,

which could be our tool to help ourselves and others to prepare and to be aware. And the
use of technologies that we have are good way to gain essential knowledge for us to get

ourselves ready and our family to any disasters we all might take.

Education is the primary building block for us to formulate our plans and

preparations. While preparation is the key to real change, if you are prepared then your

safety is ensured. However disaster management won’t avert or eliminate the threats, it

only lessen the casualties and the damage. People should stop ignoring what’s

happening around rather than that you should be well rounded by knowledge and ways

on how to prevent you from endangering yourself for not knowing how to approach

whatever calamities. The flow of awareness should always start from yourself then had

to be shared to others. Let’s not make the same mistake again. Let’s start breaking those

chains that bounded us to this stigma for a long time by being more informed, innovative

and well-educated. The time to prepare is now, don’t let time pass again. We should start

by exposing ourselves to information by attending just a simple community gathering. In

our simple act of readiness such as reading news and articles are the gateway through

knowledge and preparedness. Though those actions might be simple but soon those

micro steps will have a macro effects. What are you doing now? Get up and be prepared!