How does the Ring of Fire affect low-income communities in Asia?

The National Geographic Channel (NGC) describes the Ring of Fire as:

One of the most deadly places on earth is the Ring of Fire, a roughly 25,000- mile-long chain of volcanoes and earthquake zones that surrounds the Pacific Ocean.  Now NGC reveals some starling new evidence that suggests it may be getting more dangerous.  With more than one billion people under threat from explosive volcanic eruptions and devastating mega-earthquakes, NGC follows the scientists racing to understand the danger and what we can do to protect ourselves against its future fury.

Ring Of Fire Map: Courtesy of  U.S. Geological Survey.

Striving towards the Millennium Development Goals (initiated by the United Nations in 2000 to halve global poverty by 2015), Vision Network Society, a non-governmental organization (NGO), uses integral community development (IntegraCD) to alleviate Asian poverty.  Culture-sensitive volunteers partner with low-income communities to create a sustainable future.  Our volunteers are also trained in center-based disaster recovery (DRY) and peacebuilding.

Tsunami 2004

Vision Network Society (VNS) volunteers from Singapore and Asia respond to disasters and development needs in low-income communities.  For example, the Tsunami 2004 led our team members to be involved in development work in Indonesia.  Subsequently, our Indonesian project received endorsement from Dr. Kuntoro Magkusubroto (Rehabilitation & Reconstruction Executing Agency for Aceh and Nias.  He reports to the President of Indonesia and is a LKY Fellow).

How are disaster-prone communities being affected?  Houses are often poorly constructed; low-income residents do not have access to safe water and proper sanitation.  In the event of a major earthquake, these houses collapse easily, burying anyone within.  If not rescued in time, the victims face death.  Complicating matters, debris from collapsed houses can clog drains, causing flooding and an invasion of vermin and other pests into the affected areas.  The floodwater may also overload the crude sewer systems in such areas, causing a spread of sewage-tainted water.  Consequently, lethal water-borne diseases such as cholera can occur.

If residents are equipped with disaster-recovery skills, their chances of survival are greatly enhanced.

How does IntegraCD Center equip low-income communities living near the Ring of Fire?

People learn the value of preparing for disasters after they’ve been victims.  But it may be too late.

Firstly, let’s define disaster.  A disaster is an event, either natural or man-made, that causes great distress or destruction.  It is a social crisis which occurs when a hazard coincides with a vulnerable situation, resulting in a significant loss of life, severe life-threatening disruption & substantial physical damage.  A disaster is therefore a combination of hazard and vulnerability. 

Depending on the region, the IntegraCD Center strives to be ready for all types of natural disasters including but not limited to earthquake, fire, flood, mudslide, Tsunami, volcano and others.  The objectives of the center are:

•         Train volunteers in disaster recovery (DRY).

•         Coordinate resources during disaster.

•         Act as a base for non-governmental organizations (NGO) to carry out relief work.

Hazard-Vulnerability Table

The first step is to identify where the community is in the Hazard-Vulnerability Table.  In this case, risk is defined as the probability of a disaster happening.   When the disaster-prone community realizes its vulnerability to hazards, residents begin to get organized.

A DRY task force is formed to lead the community to be prepared for any disaster occurring in its area.  The IntegraCD Center can assist the community in carrying out the DRY training which includes community first-aid and several rescue techniques.

Often relief work arrives hours later.  If residents are trained to be first responders, lives could be saved.  If well-trained, the IntegraCD Center can respond to disasters that occur in its area.  Disaster studies have shown that when people are trained for disaster recovery, the impact is much lessened.  Disaster training can make a great difference in the coping mechanism of a disaster-prone community!

Depending on funding, the IntegraCD Center works through the 4 R: Readiness, relief, recovery and rebuilding.  Although Vision Network Society is a development organization, it cannot choose to ignore disaster recovery.

Lastly, there is definitely undefined danger for volunteers involved in disaster recovery.