D22 Maintaining awareness

• If community leaders have successfully worked together to plan their response to a possible disaster, it is important to share these ideas widely. It is good for leaders to be prepared, but also important for all community members to be aware of how they should respond to difficult situations.
• Consider how to motivate people to consider the effects of a disaster and their response. You could prepare role plays, share ideas and information with pastors or produce puppet shows or songs. Posters prepared with local artists may help. Contact the local radio station with ideas they could use in broadcasting.
• Once initial awareness has been raised, this needs to be maintained over many years.

• Where do people in the community get information from? What sources of information do they trust? How do they prefer to receive information?
• Discuss good ways of getting people’s attention when presenting a talk, role-play or puppet show?
• What contacts do people have with the local newspaper or radio? What might be the best way to approach them?
• How could useful information be easily shared with religious leaders and other key figures? The Bible is a very helpful tool. Refer to the studies at the end of this book for ideas on using the Bible.
• What helps people to remember information?

This page was last updated on 22 April 2005