The Sunday Mail
October 13, 2016 came and went. For the residents of Chinotimba township and others in Victoria Falls, commemoration of the International Day for Disaster Reduction (IDDR) was brought to their doorsteps for the first time.
Appreciation must be extended to the material and financial support towards the day by Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe, Unicef, World Vision International, Zimbabwe Red Cross Society, AVS Claims Help and Victoria Falls Municipality.
Readers may recall that the IDDR 2016 theme is “Live to Tell” accompanied by images of a cardiograph symbolising a heartbeat and, therefore, life and a ring buoy or life ring. The life ring is a symbolic way to illustrate the need to stay afloat or buoyancy in order to avoid loss of life as a result of disaster.
It has been observed that despite advances in managing disaster risk, loss of life to predictable disaster events continues to be unacceptably high. Accordingly, IDDR 2016 seeks to create awareness on actions that must be taken to reduce loss of life.
The activities for IDDR kicked off with a procession march which was followed by an official ceremony and an exhibition on “Live to Tell”. The energetic drum majorettes from Chinotimba Primary School led the march which was punctuated by large vivid banners with messages urging all and sundry to “ACT Now” in order to “Live to Tell”.
Actions are to be directed against, the escalating rate of road traffic accidents, sanitation challenges particularly in urban settings giving rise to the upsurge of diarrhoeal disease, widespread presence of mosquitoes with the attendant high prevalence of malaria, the devastating effects of drought on food security and livelihoods and the rampant land degradation.
The Official Ceremony: An enthusiastic master of ceremony Mr M Moyo, a teacher from Mosi-aotunya High School, ably steered the programme of the ceremony and ensured that the gathering at Chinotimba Hall did not lose sight on the need to “Live to Tell”.
Mkhosana Secondary School choir led a hearty rendition of the national anthem in the county’s three common languages. Rev Jubane of the Apostolic Faith Mission Church in Chinotimba Township led the devotions with emphasis on “Live to Tell” with remarkable reference to scripture on disasters such as the floods during the time of Noah and the droughts during the time of Moses.
The tiny tots of Chinotimba pre-school endeared themselves to the audience with a well rehearsed poem on the dangers of disasters. Thandolwenkosi Sibanda, a schoolgirl from Mosi-oa-tunya High School delivered a poem on climate change highlighting that it was no longer a myth but rather a reality.
All societies need to accept this reality and come up with better measures to reduce the associated negative effects in order to be resilient and “Live to Tell”.
Leeroy Mutungwazi, an Honours student in Disaster and Management Studies at Bindura University of Science Education delivered a remarkable and pertinent poem on Reducing Disaster Mortality and “Live to Tell”:
A classic tale of David and Goliath, one phenomenon dividing a nation into a majority and a minority A struggle for existence won by a state of mind translated into the use of a basic resource; a stone, for the redemption of an empire!
One man envisioned victory and success while the rest wallowed and complained to no avail Where will you stand in the midst of adversity is now the question at hand Are you strong and courageous, are you visionary and zealous, do you have what it takes to be a survivor?
In the 19th century a wise man once stated, “People may increase in numbers exponentially, but resources will only do so arithmetically”, which means at some point in time, lack will become dominant, poverty will seem to be the norm, pandemics and disasters will erupt and many lives will be lost
A sad reality inevitable in all its nature
But shall we then wait and look or shall we take the call by Mother Nature as a warning for us to change the outcome by minimising the risk to disaster
In 1992, drought knocked on our doorstep and with it families were left counting their losses In 2008, our enemy was invisible to the eye and yet as deadly as the military elite
It wiped out young and old, for most of us all we could do was to watch and wish for the predicament not to befall our loved ones as well
Cholera ravaged societies, but l am glad to say you survived, and now you “Live to Tell” the tale
A few years later our brothers and sisters were plagued by floods, an incident which caught us off guard and yet devastating that it even found itself into song This is none other than the famous Tokwe Mukorsi floods of February 2014
A state of disaster not met with a defeated mind, but with intent to survive, measures were put in place and calamity mitigated As of now, we “Live to Tell”
2016 the present year, we find ourselves in the hot seat once more, our tango with the El Nino-induced drought earning us a divorce from productivity, the summer crop declared a write-off and livestock breeding lain to waste
This is a reality not propaganda, can sugar coat an evident truth understood by young and old, able and disabled What then shall we do to reduce disaster mortality and “Live to Tell”?
The strength of a people equates to their state of mind Development is centered on intent, which is a product of one’s state of mind Intent to survive is the first point of call in this battle for existence
Giving birth to a nation pregnant with thoughts for sustainable development Harnessing the little we have, our land can see yet better days A drought not seen as a curse, but rather an opportunity to utilise some of our drought resistant crops such as sorghum, rapoko and millet
A time to develop better water harvesting techniques and venture into production of alternative livestock feeds to meet the challenge A battle won by a state of mind will ensure that we can “Live to Tell”
The official speech by the Minister of State for Matabeleland North Province, Ambassador NCG Mathema underscored the significant improvements made by Government on early warning systems for natural hazards particularly those induced by weather conditions such as droughts and floods.
The country has embraced near real-time data surveillance technologies to monitor impending hazard events. Preventive programmes are being intensified.
Lessons gleaned from the past are to contribute to better management of events in the future. All these efforts seek to ensure that loss of life is minimised and we can all “Live to Tell”!
