The Tsunami
A natural calamity causing huge destruction and loss of life
and property. Alongside the story of deep sorrow are reassuring
details of courage, survival and resilience. bestilly
While covering sections and sub sections of the text, focus on
situations in which children realise the importance of doing
whatever possible to save human and animal life, to participate
in relief work and to understand the concept of disaster
management.
09 Jan
Elicit their comments on, and reactions to, the stories of
Meghna and Almas. Focus on values such as courage, care
and compassion in the bitter struggle for survival and
rehabilitation.
The entirtiter under Before you read is like an alam
Answers
Answer:
Victor Hugo once wrote that “Religion, society, nature: these are the three struggles of man. These three conflicts are, at the same time, his three needs”. The literature and history of countries around the world seem to provide plenty of evidence to back up Hugo’s words.
But in Japan, where prevailing Shinto and Buddhist beliefs are inextricably tied to nature, and traditional society was shaped around harmonious human–nature activities in satoyama landscapes, these three factors seem to have grown together. This may provide some explanation for the tremendous resilience that communities in Japan’s Tohoku region have shown in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami of 2011.
These are important and timely issues to consider, because resilience is a keyword these days — and rightfully so. It was peppered throughout the Rio+20 outcome document “The Future We Want”, was one of the four themes of last month’s International Forum for Sustainable Asia and the Pacific (ISAP2012) in Yokohama, Japan, and is at the core of the “Nature+” theme of next month’s IUCN World Conservation Congress in the Republic of Korea.
There have, however, been some difficulties in describing, quantifying and communicating the concept of resilience. Technical definitions exist, and there is a range of specific descriptions of ecosystem resilience and even community resilience.
It has even been claimed that the antonym of resilience is “vulnerability”, which may be easier to identify and measure. In this case, any factors that reduce vulnerability may automatically also be considered as increasing resilience.
But just as courage may only become apparent in dangerous situations, perhaps a system’s resilience cannot be observed until it faces some external stress. The scientific community is predicting that climate change will bring a whole host of increasingly unpredictable and extreme weather events that will soon be testing the resilience or uncovering the vulnerabilities of communities around the world.
Resilience in the face of disaster
On 11 March 2011, the largest earthquake in Japan’s recorded history hit the northeastern Tohoku region, causing a devastating tsunami and widespread destruction. The intense seismic activity in and around Japan is well-known, and extensive steps had been taken to mitigate this vulnerability. The sheer scale of the disaster, however, overwhelmed many of the infrastructural defenses, washing away whole communities and leaving thousands homeless.
In the days and weeks that followed, however, a growing number of heroic stories began to emerge from the region — stories of order in the face of chaos; compassion in the face of devastation; generosity in the face of loss. In short, the infrastructure was broken, ecosystems had been devastated, but the sense of community had remained intact.
Reflecting on community resilience
At last month’s ISAP2012, a parallel session was held under the forum’s resilience theme titled “The Satoyama Initiative and Resilience — Pathways to a Sustainable Society”. During the session, a powerful presentation was given by Mr. Katsuhiko Tada. As president of Tada Organic Farm Company, located in Iwate Prefecture’s Tono City in the affected Tohoku region,Tada told attendees of how he saw cars bouncing up and down during the earthquake, and experienced the tsunami’s devastation first-hand.