The Kenya Red Cross Society, in their Policy Paper, has defined disaster as a catastrophic situation or occurrence in which the day-to-day patterns of life are, in most instances, suddenly disrupted causing widespread human, material or environmental losses which exceed the ability of the affected society to cope using its own resources. It also divides disaster into 2 distinct categories according to the speed of their onset: Slow-onset disaster such as drought, floods, famine, and refugee influx.
The other category is Rapid-onset Disaster such as internal strife and war, forced movements of large numbers of people usually across frontiers, accidents, land and mud slides, earth quakes, volcanic eruptions and acts of terrorism.
Activities here include implementation of immediate and temporary measures aimed at impeding or deterring the occurrence of a disaster event and or preventing such an occurrence from having harmful effects on the communities; These include:
(i) Increasing vegetation cover on flood and drought prone area.
(ii) Improving on rain harvesting, while seeking to minimize on surface water consumption.
(iii) Training the Young SOFADECCA Youth Movement in Disaster Detection, Preparedness and Mitigation.
(iv)Mounting Disaster Prevention Campaigns and outreaches among disaster prone communities.
(v) Installing Fire Disaster and Thunder Arresters Equipment in All Public and Private Facilities where these equipments are still not yet installed or are lacking.
(vi) Training Institutional staff in Fire and Disaster Management. And much more.
SOFADECCA is guided by the Principles of Humanitarian Operations as were coined by the RED CROSS and RED CRESCENT SOCIETIES in responding to disasters. In particular, HEDI-PREMIREM implements the following core activities:
1. Formulating Policies, Procedures and Guidelines for dealing with various disasters.
2. Establishing lines of communication and levels of responsibility for counter-disaster activities
3. Distributing Humanitarian Relief Services and Goods to areas hard hit by famines, drought, floods and disease outbreaks.
Recovery is the process by which the affected communities are assisted in returning to their proper levels of functioning or even better following disaster. Whereas, Development is the progressive advancement and modernisation of societies, in this case, as it inter-relates with the effects of disaster and with disaster management. Particular activities here include:
a). Providing and coordinating activities that provide the basic necessities of food, clothing, beddings, shelter to the homeless, transport of relief items to disaster hit areas, medical interventions in cases of disease outbreaks.
b). Providing psycho-social support and counselling services to traumatized individuals in disaster situations and other social assistances as are incidental to disaster mitigation and relief services.
c). Guided by the Book of Prophet Jeremiah 1:3, seek to rebuild broken lives and restore hope to the affected persons by meeting their immediate needs while introducing them to viable and sustainable sources of livelihoods within their environments.
b). Restore people’s hope, rebuild their lives and reconstruct and replace their damaged or lost properties including infrastructures to their primary levels of effectiveness (or better) before the disaster occurred.
The Society shall continuously and sacrificially hold the KEY for NEW HOPE.
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here.
AREAS FOR PILOTING THE HEDI-PREMIREM PROGRAM: HEDI-PREMIREM shall thus be implemented in Nyanza Province (Migori, Suba, Kuria, Nyando and Homa Bay Districts); Western Province (Kakamega, Mt. Elgon, Bumala, and Mumias Districts); Nairobi (Kibera, CBD, Industrial Areas, and Public Institutions and Corporations); Rift Valley (All Flower Farms in Naivasha, Nakuru, and Kericho Districts; Baringo and Narok Districts; West Pokot, Turkana, Samburu, Laikipia and Transmara); and North Eastern Province.
• To provide disaster preparedness and management to the community.
• To develop and strengthening emergency institutions in the society.
• To promote young people's involvement in disaster preparedness and response while training them in general disaster management and evacuation procedures.
• To promote the junior SOFADECCA Movement amongst the youth of all races and to create awareness in general disaster and evacuation procedures.
• To propagate the ideals and the humanitarian principles of SOFADECCA.
• To offer or facilitate the offering of formal and informal training on fire and disaster amongst its members and other registered trainees.
• To be non-partisan, gender-sensitive, non-discriminatory society discharging its duties, responsibilities and obligations without favour or prejudice.
1.) Lack of Specialised Training.
2.) Lack of Appropriate Equipment.
3.) Lack of Adequate Resources.
4.) Lack of Systematic Disaster Mitigation and Response Mechanism.
The Society, from the above summary of activities and experiences, thus has over 10 years of experience in Fire and Disaster Operations. Its trained personnel having developed capacities of various staff and personnel drawn from institutions, hotels, companies and municipal councils.
Despite these grave consequences of disasters, not much has been done to mitigate or control these consequences. Disasters continue to strike with greater frequency, magnitude and complexity. In most cases, the natural phenomena triggering the disasters are beyond human control. However, vulnerability to such disasters is a result of man’s own creation. Environmental Vulnerability and Poverty are mutually reinforcing: 80% of the poor in Latin America, 60% of the poor in Asia, and 50% of the poor in Africa live on marginal lands that are characterised by poor productivity and high vulnerability to environmental degradation and natural disasters. Developing countries, which necessarily place high priority on food production and industrial activities, have fewer resources left to reduce disaster risk.
Download our program proposal here.
SOFADECCA looks into the future of disaster operations with optimism as it seeks to forge partnership with local (in-country) and international Fire and Disaster Societies with an aim of bolstering its own capacity and abilities to respond effectively to Fire and Disaster when and if they occur.
Disaster Prevention for Sustainable Development. Editors: Mohan Munasinghe and Caroline L. Clarke: The International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR) and the World Bank, 1994. Gavidia, Jorge. 1990. “The Economic and Social Effects of Recent Natural Disasters in Ecuador and Nicaragua.” In UNCRD, the Socioenomic Impacts of Disasters. UNCRD Meeting Report Series 45, Nagoya, Japan. Washington DC: World Bank, December, 1990
Menelik Rd, Off Ngong Rd, Tel: +254 722 558866, 020 3870699, Nairobi Kenya. cornerstone@wananchi.com
SFADAMA FIRE.
P.O. Box 2929 00100, Nairobi Kenya.
Email:sfadamafire@yahoo.com
Tel: +254 728441413.