aspekte 03 when the earth quakes earthquake aid and … · 4 diakonie katastrophenhilfe aspekte...

Aspekte 03 When the earth quakes – earthquake aid and risk reduction

03 Foreword04 Introduction A restless planet 08 The largest and deadliest earthquakes 1990 – 201110 Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe’s earthquake aid

Emergency aid HaItI 14 Chronology of relief operations in Haiti16 Relief worker in Haiti17 Survival after the earthquake18 From emergency aid to reconstruction Psychosocial support20 InDonesIa Strengthening self-healing capacities22 Interview “Every community is capable of helping itself”

Reconstruction23 Iran “My heart is broken, but I can live again!”25 Peru After the earthquake is before the earthquake

Restoring lives and livelihoods27 PaKIstan New prospects for the future after the disaster

Disaster risk reduction30 Disaster risk reduction in earthquake risk areas32 HaItI Better quality will lead to better protection33 HaItI Interview “It is important to build more homes”34 PaKIstan Interview “The villagers can now help themselves”

36 Lessons Learnt Experiences of humanitarian aid after earthquakes

39 Interview From Pakistan to Haiti – international exchange of personnel

40 HaItI Media and donations

42 Glossary43 Bibliography and web links/ imprint

Dear readers,Earthquakes last only a matter of seconds, yet the damage they cause is usually immense. Countless people lose their lives, their relatives, their friends. Children are orphaned. Many are seriously injured, often to be physically disabled for the rest of their lives, and many are severely traumatised. Unimaginable suffering bears down with devastating power on to people’s lives. Whole cities or entire areas are razed to the ground. Seaquakes trigger huge waves that obliterate everything in their path. Afterwards, nothing remains as it was before – for the victims, but also sometimes for the whole international community. We remember all too well the biggest earthquake disasters of recent years: in 2004, the Indian Ocean tsunami; in 2010, the earthquake in Haiti; and, in March 2011, the earthquake and tsunami in Japan that not only claimed 19,000 lives but led to several meltdowns at the Fukushima I nuclear power plant. An earthquake is not a punishment measures, some of them simple, many lives can be saved. That is why we rebuild houses that are earthquake- resistant; why we form disaster management committees and equip them with tools and materials. We train the people living in areas at risk. Together with the local population, we draw up risk maps, secure endan-gered slopes against collapse and carry out drills to prepare for the case of emergency. These disaster risk reduction measures not only help reduce the damage that can be caused by earthquakes. They are also just as useful in the event of other disasters such as tropical storms or floods. This brochure should give you an impression of our relief operations after the earthquakes in recent years and at the same time provide an insight into the different aspects of humanitarian aid. We regard ourselves as a “learning” organisation and are constantly working to improve the aid we provide, so that we can continue to meet the needs of the poorest and most deprived in our midst, and enable them to lead their lives in dignity. Yours sincerely,

Pastor Cornelia Füllkrug-Weitzel President of Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe

4 5Dia konie k ata s t rophenhil fe Aspek te When the e Arth quAkes – e ArthquAke Aid And risk reduc tion4 5

Introduction + + How earthquakes come about

a restless planetJörg Jenrich, works as editor with the public relations department

Our Earth is a fairly restless planet. It shakes and quakes. More often than not very weakly, almost imperceptibly. And, indeed, it is only through seismometers that we learn of the hundreds of earthquakes that occur each day. Yet, sometimes this quaking can amount to a lot more than a slight trembling, acquiring a destructive force that can be catastrophic in scale, such as the earthquake in Haiti in January 2010.

Although seismologists studying the processes within the earth’s interior can now accurately explain how an earth-quake comes about, it is still not possible to reliably predict when and where the earth will quake. All we can do is cal-culate a certain degree of probability that an earthquake will occur in a region. However, these indications are too imprecise to act as the basis for such concrete measures as the evacuation of the population. Consequently, millions of people live in areas of high seismic risk, for example in and around Istanbul, with the knowledge that a severe earth-quake could hit at any time. But as they go about their daily lives, people have become so used to the threat that they seldom give any thought to the risks. That is why it is even more important for the authorities and civil organisations

to take preventive measures to ensure that buildings are constructed to earthquake-resistant standards, that evacu-ation and emergency plans are in place and risk manage-ment policies pursued.

Initially ridiculed: the theory of continental driftIn 1912, the German geoscientist and polar researcher, Alfred Wegener, proposed the theory that the continents are not stationary components of the earth’s mantle, but are in motion. He had noticed that individual continental plates matched up like pieces of a jigsaw, leading him to

believe they were parts of an original supercontinent: Pangaea. Initially, Wegener was much ridiculed for his theory of continental drift. However, his ideas went on to form the basis of plate tectonics, which revolutionised our former notion of the earth’s crust being rigidly fixed. Exploration of the deep seabed enabled scientists in the 1960s to confirm that the continental plates were indeed moving. They discovered that deep valleys and mountain ranges run through the world’s oceans, where astounding geological processes take place. Today, modern plate tec-tonics assumes that the earth’s mantle is made up of seven large and numerous small plates, which can move in three different directions: towards each other, away from each other or past each other. When plates thrust downwards or scrape past one another, their edges buckle and become locked. This leads to an enormous build up of stress and, hence, stored energy. Once this stress is abruptly released, it unleashes a level of energy that can be a hundred times greater than a nuclear explosion.

Continents in movementWith the help of modern satellite observation we now know that plates can move by up to 15 centimetres per year. These movements are caused by convective currents within the earth’s interior: hot material rises out of the earth’s core, forcing its way to the surface and pushing the plates’ edges apart. On the seabed, these plate edges form so-called rifts, chains of volcanoes, formed by the constant flow and subsequent cooling of magma. Some of these volcanoes can be-come so large that they rise above sea level to form islands. This is how Iceland, with its many active volcanoes, was formed as part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

Elsewhere, plates move towards one another. Running through the oceans are trenches, where a denser, heavier plate is thrust or “subducted” under a lighter one. Scientists refer to this is a subduction zone. Along the west coast of South America, the oceanic plate pushes under the conti-nental plate. The force, with which the two plates push against each other, is so great, that it has created the Andes Mountain Range. A further example of plates pushing against each other is the Himalayan Mountain Range: the Indian Sub-continental Plate pushes against the Eura-sian Plate with such force, causing dramatic folding, and thereby creating the highest mountains on Earth.

There are zones, both in the deep sea and on continents, where plates are moving neither towards nor away from one another, but past one another. These areas, where such movement occurs, are among those at greatest risk of severe earthquakes: when the plates become entangled and locked

into one another, this causes enormous pressure which builds up until it is suddenly released. The result is an earth-quake. One of the best known examples of this is the San Andreas Fault in California, which was hit by a massive earthquake in 1906. This also caused numerous fires in San Francisco. Three thousand people lost their lives. Another example of two plates moving horizontally past each other is the North Anatolian Fault in Turkey. Here, in August 1999, a powerful earthquake claimed 18,000 lives. Its epicentre was Izmit, only 80 kilometres away from Istanbul. Scientists have calculated that there is a 60 percent probability that Istanbul, a metropolis with a population of several millions, will be hit by a powerful earthquake within the next 30 years. Although most earthquakes throughout the world occur along plate boundaries, they can also be triggered by volcanic activity or collapsing underground cavities. The impacts of these are much more limited, except in the case of undersea earthquakes, caused by such volcanic activity or landslides.


The world map shows the hypocentres of all earthquakes since 1954 with a magnitude of more than 4.0. The plate boundaries can be clearly seen.

The world map shows the hypocentres of all earthquakes since 1954 with a magnitude of more than 4.0. The plate boundaries can be clearly seen.

© BGR Hannover, Germany

The sudden release of pressure produces waves that can reach a speed of up to 800 kilometres per hour. When they reach shallow coastal waters, they build up into giant wave crests called tsunamis. Such a tsunami was caused by a seaquake in the Indian Ocean in December 2004, claiming the lives of 230,000 people. Early warning systems are in-tended to protect countries around the Pacific and Indian Oceans from the impact of future tsunamis.

Classification of earthquakesIn order to compare the impacts of different earthquakes, the Italian vulcanologist Guiseppe Mercalli developed a method in 1902, which attributed the felt magnitude of tre-mors and the damage to buildings or topographical destruction to particular categories. This Mercalli scale makes it possible for earthquakes to be classified without the use of measuring instruments and even for the assessment and classification of well-documented earlier earthquakes. But before long, this method of assessment proved to be too imprecise for scientists. Hence, in 1935, the American seis-mologist, Charles Richter, developed a procedure based on

the physical measurements provided by seismographs. A simple seismograph makes use of varying levels of inertia in the event of earth tremors: a stylus draws a straight line onto a slowly rotating cylinder. During an earthquake, the stylus – attached to a heavy weight or “mass” – remains fixed relative to the instrument frame, while the cylinder shakes. The degree of fluctuation recorded by the stylus on the cylinder varies in relation to the magnitude of the earthquake. The synchronized use of at least three seismometers in different locations makes it not only possible to measure the magnitude of an earthquake but also to localise its source. This seismic centre, which can be several kilometres under the earth’s surface, is called the “hypocentre”. “Epicentre” refers to the spot directly above this on the earth’s surface. Nowadays, highly refined instruments are capable of meas-uring earthquakes, which we human beings cannot feel.

Waves make the earth swingAn earthquake propagates seismic waves that radiate at varying speeds. Seismologists differentiate between primary and secondary waves (P and S waves), which can reach

different velocities. P waves or compressional waves travel in the direction of propagation, compressing and stretching the ground. They reach twenty times the speed of sound waves. In contrast, S waves or shear waves move at an angle of 90 degrees to their direction of propagation and are only half as quick. On the earth’s surface, these waves are broken into what we know as surface waves. These are what cause the most extensive damage. While P waves cause very little upwards ground motion, S waves generate violent shudder-ing. But the most destructive are the surface waves, such as Rayleigh waves, which cause the ground to move horizontally as well as vertically and are felt as a rippling movement.

Earthquakes represent a particular threat to human life because they can trigger tsunamis, landslides or mudslides, cause buildings and dams to collapse and start fires. As a result of earthquakes, over two million people have lost their lives since the beginning of the twentieth century. In the last ten years alone, economic damage has amounted to almost six billion euros.

Human beings often bear much of the responsibility for the devastating impacts of an earthquake, for example where there is failure to comply with essential building measures and standards in earthquake prone regions. One particular problem is the settlement of areas which have sandy soil. Soil like this can be literally liquefied by earthquakes and cause buildings to sink as if they had been built on quick-sand. An additional threat are the after-shocks, which hours, days or weeks after the actual earthquake can cause the earth to shake up to several hundred times. The sole consolation is the knowledge that over time these aftershocks weaken. It is still not known what causes them. More recent research seems to indicate that underground sound waves play a key role. And aftershocks also cannot be predicted. Thus, for weeks afterwards, traumatised victims of earth-quakes live in fear of the potential destructive effects of renewed tremors.

8 9DIa KonIe K ata s t roPHenHIl Fe ASPEK TE WHEN THE E ARTH QUAKES – E ARTHQUAKE AID AND RISK REDUC TION8 9

tHe larGest anD DeaDlIest eartHquaKes 1990 – 2011

year Date magnitude Deaths region

1 10 June 20th .4 50,000 Iran Rasht +2 11 October 1th . 2,000 nortHern InDIa +3 12 December 12th . 2,51 InDonesIa Flores region +4 13 September 2th .2 ,4 InDIa Maharashtra +5 14 June th . 5 soutHWest ColombIa +6 15 January 1th . 5,530 JaPan Kobe +7 1 February 3rd . 322 CHIna Yunnan +8 1 May 10th .3 1,52 nortHern Iran +9 1 May 30th . 4,000 aFGHanIstantaJIKIstan Border region +

10 1 August 1th . 1,11 turKey Gölcük +11 2000 June 4th . 103 InDonesIa Southern Sumatra

year Date magnitude Deaths region

12 2001 January 2th . 20,023 InDIen Gujarat +13 2002 March 25th .1 1,000 aFGHanIstan Hindu Kush Region +14 2003 December 2th . 31,000 Iran Bam +15 2004 December 2th .1 22, InDonesIa West of Sumatra +16 2005 October th . 0,31 PaKIstan Kaschmir +17 200 May 2th .3 5,4 InDonesIa Java +18 200 August 15th .0 514 Central Peru Coastal region +19 200 May 12th . ,5 CHIna Eastern Sichuan +20 200 September 30th .5 1,11 InDonesIa Southern Sumatra +21 2010 January 12th .0 230,000 HaItI near Port-au-Prince +22 2011 March 11th .0 20, JaPan near the coast of Honshu +

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DIa KonIe K ata s t roPHenHIl Fe ASPEK TE8 9WHEN THE E ARTH QUAKES – E ARTHQUAKE AID AND RISK REDUC TION 9


Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe + + Support after earthquakes

Interview Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe’s earthquake aidSince its foundation in 1954, Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe has also been providing aid to earthquake victims. In its first such intervention in 1953, new sheep for breeding and draught horses were provided to farmers on the Greek Ionian Islands, which had been badly affected by a powerful earthquake. Since then, there have been countless other interventions throughout the world, which have seen a continual development in its working methods. Today, alongside emergency aid and reconstruction, disaster risk reduction and the sustain-ability of aid play a decisive role. Below, Hannelore Hensle, head of Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe from 1982 to 2005 and Volker Gerdesmeier, who held the same position from 2008 to 2011, discuss the particular features and challenges of past relief operations.

Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe What were Diakonie Katastrophen-hilfe’s largest scale aid interventions following earthquakes?Hannelore Hensle We have always implemented extensive relief operations in response to earthquakes, for example in Algeria, Italy, Turkey and Greece. In recent decades, there were important interventions following the major earth-quakes in 1988 in Armenia, 1999 in Gölcük/Turkey, 2001 in Gujarat/India and 2003 in Bam/Iran. The scale of these disasters was extensive, but we have also never forgotten the other disasters or earthquakes that cause smaller-scale damage – since the impact of the loss of family and friends, and of possessions is just as grave for all who are affected.

Volker Gerdesmeier In recent years, our largest scale relief operations were in response to the earthquakes in Kashmir/ Pakistan in 2005 and in Haiti in 2010.

→ Is there anything that typifies these interventions?HH The typical picture we have in mind of earthquakes is that of destroyed houses in an urban setting – a tower block collapses more spectacularly than many small houses in a rural setting. But this often means overlooking the fact that it is not only houses that are destroyed, but also the infra-structure and, hence, the economic cycles. This perspective, heavily influenced by the media, often distracts attention away from the enormous destruction in densely populated rural areas – not least because these areas are difficult to access and aid is not so easy to organise.

VG The same was reported by colleagues in relation to the earthquake in Kashmir in 2005. Roads and bridges were destroyed and a great deal of the aid supplies had to be flown in. In Haiti, it became evident that the earthquake had

come as a surprise to many organisations. Diverse analysis reports and risk reduction measures had been more pre-pared for hurricanes. Even in areas that are particularly prone to earthquakes, the disaster itself ultimately comes unexpectedly. These high-risk areas are so large, that it is difficult to be prepared for all eventualities. And then, when it does happen, it comes as something of a bombshell. The response, on the basis of extremely limited information, has to be immediate and very swift in the midst of all the chaos and destruction.

HH One also has to consider that there is often a substantial likelihood of aftershocks. In El Salvador in 2001, I was with a colleague from Caritas international the day after the large earthquake struck the area, when more buildings col-lapsed and small houses in the hilly terrain plummeted down the steep slopes. One other typical element is the trauma that earthquakes can cause. People often feel guilty that they have survived when their neighbour has not. This must also be given proper consideration in our aid projects. Of course, this also applies to victims of war and flooding, but the destruction caused by earthquakes can be particu-larly selective. In Adapazarı in Turkey in 1999, I noticed that a higher-lying district was entirely undamaged, while other districts had suffered devastating destruction. This was due to the different soil conditions. In Turkey, too, it is not always a matter of botched building, a conclusion we here in Germany reach all too quickly and easily.

VG In Haiti, too, people spoke repeatedly about exactly where they were during the minutes of the earthquake. Some had just happened to leave their houses and survived, while relatives had remained at home and died. They also described how everything started to move, how “the con-crete floors danced”. The experience of seeing everything you thought was stable, suddenly starting to shake – also in a figurative sense – must be very difficult.

→ How can such trauma be taken into consideration in the actual work?HH By consulting experienced experts when designing re-lief operations, and, where necessary, by setting up special programmes.

VG Immediately after the disaster in Haiti, our colleagues returned to work, even though they themselves had lost loved ones and their homes had been destroyed. It was good for them to be able to do something. They were given specialist assistance and a counsellor organised psychological support, partly combined with traditional methods.

→ Where do you begin in the face of such wide-spread destruction? How is the aid organised?VG The first criterion, wherever you are working, is the scale of need. On the basis of indices, for example from the Euro-pean Union, Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe has determined focus countries for its work. In Latin America, our focus is on Colombia and Haiti. This has been vindicated. The severe earthquake in Chile in 2010 caused relatively little damage because Chile is simply less vulnerable. The houses are better constructed, the country is more affluent and there is greater compliance with standards. In contrast, Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the Western hemisphere. Within Haiti, we have concentrated on the region where Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe has already been active for several years. It was particularly badly hit by the earthquake. The best assessments of damage and need in the region were compiled by the local civil protection committees trained before the earthquake by Diakonie Katastrophen-hilfe. Accordingly, in the selection of beneficiaries – a crucial process – we were able to rely on the local knowledge and competence of our local partners. They know the people on the ground and who is most in need of aid.

HH Like other humanitarian disasters, earthquakes hit the poorest most severely. They often settle in high-risk areas, do not live in earthquake-resistant houses and have the least reserves to help them survive the emergency period and begin reconstruction. Aid must be oriented to their needs. This applies not only to the phase of emergency assistance but also to the recovery measures and reconstruction, which have to be included in the planning process from the outset of the crisis. In view of this, we have developed the concept of rehabilitation of livelihood and habitat, which enables communities to function again as communities. In detail, this means: the reconstruction of houses and villages, rehabilitation of the infrastructure, income generation activities and agricultural rehabilitation. In the reconstruction of houses, the legal regulations and customs require as much consideration as earthquake resistant construction methods.

VG Exactly. And that’s why we stand by the principle of “building back better“. We want people to be better protected in the event of future disasters. In Haiti, of the 562 houses reconstructed under the direction of Diakonie Katastrophen- hilfe to storm-resistant standards after the 2008 hurricanes, nearly 90 percent remained undamaged by the 2010 earth-quake. And that with very little, inexpensive improvements to traditional building methods.

→ What other areas are of particular significance for earthquake aid interventions?


HH The aid following an earthquake must be related to con-text and cause. That is why each disaster has to be assessed independently and aid adapted to the specific situation. This also means, where necessary and possible, incorpo- rating precautionary and preventive measures into the planning. In the event of earthquakes, this means, above all, that reconstruction is completed in accordance with earthquake-resistant standards. After the earthquake in India in 2001, for example, this meant persuading those affected people who had previously lived in houses with flat roofs that saddle roofs were the better long-term option. In the end, a compromise was reached: roofs were built with a slight slope, so that little of their surface area was exposed to storm winds, while also allowing rainwater to run off and be collected in barrels. All in all, this led to improved stability. And in choosing building materials, quality has precedence over quantity. As well as the reha-bilitation of livelihoods – a roof over one’s head is surely not enough in itself – mention must also be made of disas-ter protection measures. For example, improving disaster management to ensure that in the event of emergency, those seeking help can quickly find a place to go to.

VG In Pakistan, our partner organisation has established disaster risk reduction at community level. This is highly important in remote villages with little state presence. With regard to the rehabilitation of livelihoods, in addition to agricultural support, vocational courses were also initiated,

Hannelore Hensle Volker Gerdesmeierfor example for plumbers and electricians and special courses for women. The reconstruction of schools is another impor-tant area.

→ What are the biggest challenges facing humanitarian aid inter-ventions following earthquakes?VG Cooperation with public authorities can be exceptionally difficult. It is often weak states that are hit by earthquakes. There is often no land register and, hence, no evidence of land boundaries. Or documents have disappeared because the offices themselves have been destroyed. States often take on decisions and authority which they are then unable to discharge. For example, masterplans may be announced, which are then not only continually delayed but also unre-alistic. Or whole sectors, for example reconstruction, are reserved for state authorities, while the responsible institu-tions are, ultimately, unable to cope. But this is something we have to respect. After all, we are guests in the country.

HH In Iran, in spite of the difficult circumstances, our colleagues on the ground were able to achieve a great deal. After tough negotiations, public bodies were persuaded to adopt slightly adapted building methods. Similarly, legal support was organised for those affected by the earthquake to ensure their rights were respected by the building au-thorities.

VG In Haiti, our team had the idea of inviting a highly com-petent partner from Peru to the disaster region. We were familiar with it from our working cooperation during reconstruction after the earthquake in Pisco, Peru in 2007. The experts from the partner organisation were able to sup-port our team and, in UN Coordination Committees, report on the negative experiences following the earthquake in Peru, where there had been too much emphasis on transi-tional shelters. Many people are still living in these provi-sional structures. The same could also easily happen in Haiti. To counteract this, Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe is building permanent houses. They are not only negligibly more expensive but will be considerably more stable in the event of future disasters. Another challenge is the acquisition of aid supplies. Where possible, our partners purchase what’s needed locally to help boost the local economy. However, in Haiti the scale of destruction was so immense that large amounts had to be brought in from outside.

HH Unfortunately, it is a fact that one disaster is eclipsed by the next and can be quickly forgotten. When the inter-national rescue teams pull out, other topics take media precedence. And this at a time when real, more cost-inten-sive aid, rehabilitation and reconstruction are required.

The acute emergency situation – as long as it receives public attention – can normally be largely funded by donations; the subsequent phase, the essential recovery and rehabili-tation measures, all too often not. In the case of the earth-quake that hit El Salvador in 2001 only a few weeks after the earthquake in India, there was not even enough to fund the emergency aid. Attracting donations and third-party funding – in other words money from public donors – is a major challenge. Church-based disaster aid requires perse-verance if it is to retain its credibility.


12tH January 2010 + + 16:53 loCal tIme + + seVeral seVere eartHquaKes shake the capital city, Port-au-Prince and the surrounding area. + +Entire towns and villages are razed to the ground. Roads are impassable, bridges destroyed. Buildings belonging to the Government, civil protection agencies and the United Nations have also collapsed. Around 230,000 people have lost their lives, with a further 300,000 injured and 1.2 million made homeless. Communications and the electricity supply breakdown. Only the internet is still functioning. The natural disaster has struck one of the poorest countries in the world, a country already marked by poverty, poor infrastructure and chronic shortages. + + + + Astrid Nissen, head of the Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe office in Port-au-Prince, attempts to reach head office in Stuttgart. She looks after the injured and gains an initial overview of the emergency situation. + +

13tH January 2010+ + Aid deliveries and a team of doctors arrive from the neighbouring Dominican Republic. The first foreign rescue workers land in the country. + + After hours of uncertainty, the internet telephone connection between Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe and the project office eventually functions: all 26 members of staff have survived, although most have lost loved ones and their homes. Many are traumatised. The office building is undamaged and serves as emer-gency staff accommodation. Because they themselves are in shock, the staff are not fully fit for work. Nonetheless, they start to assess the damage and aid requirements in cooperation with a partner organisation, and set up a structure for distribution. By the 20th January, four Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe staff have arrived in Haiti to support the team with the coordination of emergency aid, logistics and public relations work. + +

Chronology of relief operations in Haiti + + HaItI

20tH January 2010+ + Every day, aid flights are arriving in Port-au-Prince from throughout the world, the airport is overloaded. The fact that much of the infrastructure has been destroyed and public offices are unable to cope impedes aid distributions. Repeated aftershocks do not allow the people to gain any respite. + + Finally, the aeroplane receives permission to land. On board are 12 tons of aid from Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe and Caritas International: medical goods for the treatment of 40,000 people, 17 dispensary tents, 2,000 blankets, 10,000 water containers and water purification tablets. A children’s hospital in the capital receives urgently needed medical supplies. The other part of the aid delivery is destined for the towns of Jacmel and Bainet in the south. Already before the disaster, Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe has been running projects on disaster risk prevention and food security in the region. Because of the extremely poor road conditions, the relief items have to be flown in by helicopter. + +

28tH January 2010+ + The Government has called on the population to leave the destroyed capital. Hundreds of thousands try to find accommodation with friends and relations in the countryside. + + Aid distribution in Jacmel and Bainet has proceeded without any real turmoil. One great advantage proves to be the longstanding collaboration with the local population, the civil protection agency and the disaster management committees, which had been trained by Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe. Three emergency camps are set up in Jacmel, with inhabitants receiving cooking and hygiene kits. Toilets and showers are installed. A second aid flight from Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe goes ahead with ten tons of tools on board. Since many parts of Haiti have been hit by the earthquake, it has not been possible for relief items to be bought locally. The tools mean that a “cash-for-work” programme can be launched with 100 families in Jacmel. In return for clearing away the rubble, families receive money to enable them to provide for themselves. More relief goods arrive by ship in February. + +

marCH to aPrIl 2010 + + The rainy season begins.+ + Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe develops two model houses – one of wood, the other of stone – to stand a better chance of withstanding earthquakes and storms. Experts from Peru and building engineers from Germany advise the team. Subsequently, reconstruction begins on the first permanent houses. A new home for a family of five costs around 2,500 euros and is completed within a week. Time is of the essence, since the hurricane season begins in August. At the end of April, the first 21 families in Jacmel are able to move into their rebuilt houses. At the request of the Haitian Ministry of Education, Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe agrees to rebuild three schools in Jacmel by the end of the year. Until then, lessons are to continue under tarpaulin cover in the school yard or in public places. + +

may to July 2010 + + In the emergency camps, people are prepared for the dangers of the coming hurricane season. They draw up evacuation plans and dig out drainage channels. In Bainet, a new emergency shelter is opened. In the coming years, Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe wants to build more of these emergency shelters and expand its disaster protection measures. Families that have taken in refugees are given seeds and farming tools to enable them to provide for themselves. Reconstruction is going well: the first 27 new buildings are finished. By the end of June, Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe has approved 13 projects worth a total of four million euros. In July, a further 110 families in Jacmel are able to leave the camp and move into their repaired homes. + +

oCtober to DeCember 2010 + + The Government confirms a CHolera outbreaK with more than 1,500 cases. + + So far, 138 people have died. At the beginning of November, Hurricane Tomas sweeps over the island – luckily not as devastatingly as feared. Presidential and Parliamentary elections beginning at the end of November are accompanied by unrest. + + + + In the north of the country, Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe converts a clinic belonging to a partner organisation into a cholera treatment centre. Mobile teams teach good hygiene practices and distribute soap and water purification tablets to the people of Bainet. By the end of November, Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe has repaired three public schools for more than 3,000 children in Jacmel, ensuring that regular schooling can resume. In Bainet, a health station is built. A delegation including the Director of Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe, Past. Cornelia Füllkrug-Weitzel, travels to Jacmel and Bainet, to gain a first-hand impres-sion of the progress of reconstruction programmes and the rehabilitation of livelihoods.

January 2012+ + A memorial service to mark the second anniversary of the disaster is held in a huge tent next to the destroyed cathedral. In the north of the capital, at the same time the earth-quake hit the island two years previously, President Michel Joseph Martelly, who has been in office since May 2011, lays flowers at a mass grave. Reconstruction is progressing, but the widespread destruction is still evident. Half a million people continue to live in tempo-rary shelters and camps. + + Two years after the earthquake, Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe has initiated over 30 projects, worth a total of 15 million euros. Altogether 1,180 houses, three schools and three health stations have been rebuilt to earthquake and storm-resistant standards. A further 400 houses are to be built in 2012. Three emergency shelters and a hospital are currently in construction. In addition, 34 wells have been created, latrines installed and agricultural programmes launched to ensure food and income security. Assistance for the people of Haiti is expected to continue until at least 2014. + +


Emergency Aid + + HaItI

relief worker in HaitiTommy Ramm

Our colleague Tommy Ramm spent six weeks in Haiti from mid-January to the end of February 2010, support-ing staff working in the Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe project office to provide emergency aid. He gives an account here of a typical day in the work of a relief worker.

Yet another aftershock in the South Haitian town of Jacmel. Three o’clock in the morning we jump in terror and run outside. No one has yet become accustomed to the regular tremors. Some of the aid workers spend the rest of the night on the office building’s veranda, while the others have to make do with the hard floors on the open backs of our pick-ups. Too little sleep.

In the morning, a strong cup of coffee to greet the day, then off to the warehouse. A lorry is already waiting at the en-trance. We load 36 family tents and drive them out to the district where an emergency camp for 350 people is to be set up on a football field. Together with a partner organisation, we speedily put up the tents. Back to the office. Spaghetti for breakfast at eleven in the morning. No such things as fixed meal times. Then back to the warehouse, loading more relief items. This time taking mattresses, blankets, soap and mosquito nets to the same refugee camp.

After a brief rest in the office, an improvised shower using a water bucket and plastic bottle. I register the distributed items in the laptop. Then back again to the warehouse with 14 helpers. Four lorries are loaded with tents, mattresses and blankets, which are to be distributed early the next morning

in the Bainet Region, a two hour drive away. Each of the 292 tents weighs 42 kilos, a back-breaking job indeed. Everything is counted twice to ensure no mistakes are made in the regis-tration of relief items.

Back to the office. Lunch at sunset at six in the evening. Followed by a short coordination meeting to schedule the next day’s work. A colourful mishmash of languages: English, Spanish, French and Creole. A call from our office in the capital Port-au Prince makes it quite clear that our working day is not yet over. A large lorry with another load of tents is stuck in the mud in the mountains. We reach it at ten o’clock in the evening. The lorry is pushed forward metre by metre, its engine screaming, the smell of burning rubber in the air. Fortunately, it soon pulls free. It crawls up the mountain at a snail’s pace to Jacmel. My eyelids are getting heavier and heavier. At one o’clock in the morning we park the truckload outside the warehouse, ready for unloading to begin a few hours later. One thing is definite. This will be another night when I won’t get enough sleep.

Tommy Rammworked from 2009 until 2012 for the Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe regional office in Bogotá

survival after the earthquake

The earthquake of 12th January 2010 had a devastating impact on the people of Haiti. Even before the disaster, living conditions for many were difficult and dominated by extreme poverty. Most people had no regular income and lived from hand to mouth. Astrid Nissen, former head of Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe’s project office in Port-au-Prince, visited people affected by the earthquake a few weeks after the earthquake and asked them about their experiences and their life situation.

osani ladouceur, is 41 years old and has six children between the ages of four and twentyone. Only one daughter attended school until the age of twelve. Osani Ladouceur is separated from the father of her children. She receives no finan-cial support from him and, in recent times, has eked out a living as a small trader and laundress. The small plot of land she inherited from her mother had to be let out on lease, so that she could pay for her funeral. Osani lived with her children in a small rented house, the whole family sharing one room. The house was completely destroyed in the earthquake. She now lives with her children in a tent in the “Wolf III” camp. “Wolf” is a district of Jacmel. The camp was built by Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe and its partner organisations. Each family received a tent and an emergency relief kit. When the World Food Programme ceased its food distributions at the end of March 2010, the situation for Osani Ladouceur became even more difficult:

“If I didn’t have my sister, who also lives with her daughter here in the camp and usually gives me a few Gourdes so that I can make something for the children to eat, then I would have no

idea how we should survive”. Osani hopes she will soon be able to leave the camp and that her children can go to school, so that, one day, they will have a better life.

Christoph sylvestre, is about 45 years old. He does not know his exact age. He is a farmer in Bainet. He has had a walking disability since he con-tracted typhoid as a child. He, his wife and their three children aged between four and fourteen were quite lucky in the circumstances: within the scope of a project on disaster risk reduction, their house had been rebuilt in August 2009 to make it safer in the event of hurricanes. The house survived the earthquake without damage. “When the earth shook, I was out on the field,” Chris-toph Sylvestre recalls. “I crouched down on the ground, prayed to God and hoped that nothing had happened to my wife and children, who were visiting my mother-in-law in the next village. If they’d been at home, I wouldn’t have worried, because, since the building improvements last year, our house is rock solid.” He is now trying to raise the money to ex-

tend and plaster the house. “It is a great relief to know that when I die one day, I will leave my wife and my children in a good house.”

28-year-old liliane Delbaud is a single mother of two children aged ten and four-teen. Her small house in Jacmel was damaged so badly by the earthquake that it was completely demolished by the Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe team to make room for a new, earthquake- resistant house. Initially, she just watched the work, but now she herself lends a hand. As part of the “cash-for-work” programme, she is actively in-volved in the reconstruction of her city.

“The work we do here might be very hard,” she says, “but I’m delighted that I got this opportunity to help. Through this, I can help other families to receive help too.” She wants to use some of her income to buy new stock for her small business. “Then I can pay the school fees for my two children,” she says optimistically.


Jacmel, in addition to the earthquake-and hurricane-resistant houses, three schools have been rebuilt, which provide a safe environment for more than 3,000 students to resume their lessons. But Mondésir knows that reconstruction still faces huge challenges. "Solutions still haven’t been found for the many people, who, before the earthquake, lived in rented accommodation and had no land of their own." Reconstruction has only been able to meet a fraction of what is required. A lot of work is still to be done, he adds with concern.

Emergency relief for 2,000 familiesNevertheless, much has happened since the disaster struck. Three days after the devastating earthquake, which among other things, left much of the capital in ruins, the project office in Port-au-Prince, despite the extremely difficult con-ditions, sent a team to the southeast of Haiti to compile an initial damage and needs assessment. This is where “home advantage” was a real benefit for Diakonie Katastrophen-hilfe: Since the Protestant aid agency has been working for many years in the region, it could rely on experienced local partner organisations. After about two weeks, the first co-ordinated distributions of relief supplies started in Jacmel, and shortly afterwards in the rural community of Bainet: tents, blankets, sleeping mats, plastic sheets, hygiene and kitchen sets and mosquito nets reached 2,000 families affected.

In Jacmel, three large camps were set up to provide tempo-rary shelter for homeless families. In this respect, regular coordination with UN and other organisations as well as with local authorities was crucial. While Diakonie Katas- trophenhilfe, for example, took on the task of setting up camps, other aid agencies supplied the earthquake survi-vors with drinking water and food. Our local partner, CROSE, organised medical care, supplying medicines and dressing material provided by Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe.

Permanent houses instead of transitional shelters

The most important decision taken by Diakonie Katastro-phenhilfe following the acute emergency phase was not to build transitional shelters. The experience of recent years had demonstrated that such shelters would barely with-stand the region’s storms and hurricanes. Moreover, they cost almost as much as building new houses and there is a risk of transitional shelters being eventually used as per-manent housing. In April, Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe was one of the first organisations to begin reconstruction. In a

"cash-for-work" programme, 600 earthquake survivors were hired and organised into brigades to clear away the rubble of destroyed houses. This provided the people with their first income since the earthquake and, at the same time, prepared the ground for reconstruction. Subsequently, on the cleared areas new, earthquake-and hurricane-resistant buildings were built by squads of construction workers from Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe. At the end of April, the first 21 families were able to move into their new, perma-nent homes.

The beneficiaries of this first phase were primarily single mothers and families who were able to produce title deeds. The 42-year-old single mother Vena Pierre from Jacmel ful-filled these conditions and now lives two streets away from the camp she had to endure living in for five months. Although the facade of her small house remained largely intact after the earthquake, a wall of the neighbouring house collapsed and destroyed the interior. Now nearly a year after the earthquake, sitting on her small veranda, she says that she did not initially believe that her house could be rebuilt so quickly. It was only when the ruins were being pulled down that she gained hope. “A Diakonie Katastrophen- hilfe engineer told me in the camp that I'd be picked up in three days,” says Vena, “and that's what actually happened.” Since then, she has been living with her son and two daughters in the small rehabilitated house and is reluctant to remember her family’s time in the tent, something that is still a reality for many people.

From emergency aid to reconstructionTommy Ramm, Regional office, Colombia

The lorry drives at a snail’s pace along the dusty, narrow road. On the back, the load of planks and beams rattle at every pothole. In a densely populated district of the coastal town of Jacmel in southern Haiti, we pass goat traders and women patiently waiting in the sun, offering their few products for sale. At the roadside, unoccupied houses, deep cracks lining their facades, stand at a threateningly oblique angle: silent witnesses of the earthquake of 12th January 2010 that claimed the lives of at least 230,000 people and drove the impoverished country Haiti even deeper into misery.

When the truck arrives at the construction site, half a dozen workers quickly set about unloading the wood. The material

is destined for the repair and reconstruction of family homes. While carpenters put on the shiny zinc roofs, join-ers use their saws, planes and hammers to make the simple doors and windows. It is only a few weeks until the end of 2010. Yet, less than a year after the disaster, the results are impressive: 300 needy families in Jacmel and 268 poor families in three other communities in the south of the country once again have a new, safe home.

For Jacques Philippe Mondésir, discussing progress with the engineers on site, this is a reason to rejoice. While re-construction elsewhere is still nothing more than a project on the drawing board, Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe’s pro-gramme coordinator is able to present tangible results. In

emergency Health KitsThe emergency health kits are intended for hospitals and health stations and contain medicines and material to treat minor in-juries and illnesses. One kit, for example, contains medicines for fever and diarrhoea, painkillers, disposable syringes and bandages. one kit can meet the needs of 10,000 people for a three month period. The medicines meet the standards of the World Health Organisation (WHO).

relief kits for familiesA standardised emergency relief kit for a family contains a family tent and tarpaulin that can withstand the rainy season, hygiene items such as soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste and toilet paper, cooking utensils, plates, cups and cutlery. It also includes a set of tools to build the temporary shelter, two fleece blankets, sleeping mats, a large mosquito net, two jerry cans and 120 tablets to purify drinking water.


aid measures in accordance with people’s needs, irre-spective of sex, age, language and ethnic origin, are extremely important to traumatised people.

+ Participation of those affected Particularly in emergency situations, significant numbers of people develop an as-tonishing resilience, enabling them to actively participate in relief operations. This should be used to the greatest extent possible from the earliest phase of all projects. Helping to construct the future creates scope for new hope.

+ Do no harm Humanitarian aid can unintentionally cause harm. This is also true of the sensitive area of psychosocial support. Hence, cooperation with local organisations, sufficient information as well as cultural and language competence are some of the key elements of the basis for the planning and implementation of self-help activities.

+ Building on available resources and capacities All affected people, through their culture and religion, have capacities and traditions at their disposal that help them deal with extreme psychological stress such as vio-lence, loss and death. It is important to mobilise these as well as to support and cooperate with the psychosocial services of local religious communities, churches and other authorities that could contribute to overcoming trauma. Externally driven psychosocial programmes of-ten provide unsatisfactory or even inappropriate support.

+ Integrated support Activities should not only concen-trate on one victim group (for example rape victims), but should be integrated into existing wider systems (school system, health services, existing social services etc.) that tend to reach more people and make programmes more readily accepted.

+ Multi-layered support Emergencies affect people in different ways and require different kinds of support. The “intervention pyramid” model, consisting of four levels, from “basic services and security” for many people to “specialised services” for a few people, helps organi-sations to implement psychosocial support.

Example: Indonesia – activities for childrenPsychosocial components are also important for the partner organisations of Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe. After the devastating earthquake on Sumatra, Indonesia, at the end of September 2009, local partners immediately distributed aid supplies essential for survival in the disaster area. Medical teams treated serious injuries and illnesses. Together with the team of doctors from PEKESI, three local social workers visited remote villages, specifically to help children deal with their traumatic experiences. Susi Rio Panjaitan reports:

“We carried out counselling sessions and group therapies to ascertain whether the children were experiencing problems

as a result of the earthquake. Fortunately, we couldn’t detect any serious symptoms. However, we did identify general hygiene and health problems.” Through regular joint activities such as singing, dancing, craftwork, painting, storytelling and games, the children were briefly able to forget their everyday post-disaster difficulties. In open discussions, they had the opportunity to articulate and discuss any fears and anxieties. More general topics such as nature, friendship, physical hygiene and health were discussed. Most children enjoyed what for them were new activities. Desy Rosita, a teacher in Kampung Dalam, also noticed positive changes in her pupils: “The children normally come to school without washing but after the discussions on physical hygiene they started washing themselves and brushing their teeth. Also, some of them had previously appeared very downcast. They now seem as happy as they were before the earthquake.”

In planning and carrying out psychosocial support, the team from PELKESI ensured that the children and local population were involved. The counsellors prepared topics but, in a pre-liminary discussion, allowed the children to choose their own tasks. This made them feel respected and boosted their self-reliance. The village community was also encouraged to be involved in shaping the programme in line with their needs. The village communities hoped PELKESI would con-tinue its activities after the emergency aid phase. However, due to the limited duration of the project, this was not possible. Furthermore, in the opinion of the counselling team, the community possessed all the resources required to continue the psychosocial activities for children on its own.

New website for those affectedParticularly in the case of a serious disaster it is not always easy to implement all the recommendations in the IASC guidelines. Moreover, not every partner organisation has the required personnel and financial resources. Additional support is now provided by a website devoted to psychoso-cial work in emergency situations, which the global church aid network ACT Alliance put online in June 2010. It func-tions as a guide for aid workers and affected communities, from which everyone can select the elements relevant to their situation and adapt them to their local context.

Psychosocial Support + + InDonesIa

strengthening self-healing capacitiesCornelia Geidel, Editor

Disasters of all kinds – whether earthquakes, tropical storms, flooding or armed conflicts – not only destroy livelihoods and cause physical damage, but also have impacts on social structures and people’s psychological well-being. Untreated, traumatic experiences can impede their ability to make a new start. For several years now, psychological components have played a role alongside the material emergency aid of Diakonie Katastro-phenhilfe in the event of a disaster.

One approach is provided by the “Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Set- tings” adopted in 2007 by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC)1.

Recommendations on intervention for aid workersThe guidelines offer aid agencies concrete recommenda-tions for immediate psychosocial support interventions in the event of a disaster. The important thing is that the guidelines are not concerned with psychological support

in a more specific sense, which can only be provided by medical health professionals, but with comprehensive sup-port for the people affected. Also, all humanitarian inter-ventions must take account of the effects on the people’s psychological well-being in disaster areas. Thus, for example, overcrowded emergency shelters or sanitation facilities that put women at risk of sexual violence are considered particularly harmful to psychosocial well-being.

the core principles of the IasC guidelines are:+ Human rights and equity The respect for human rights

of all affected persons as well as the fair distribution of Download the ”IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings“: www.humanitarianinfo.org/iasc/

Website of the ACT Alliance (Action by Churches Together) on psy-chosocial support: www.psychosocial.actalliance.org

1 The IASC was established in 1992 by the United Nations, with the task of co-ordinating the humanitarian aid of key UN- and non-UN-organisations.


Reconstruction + + Iran

Interview “every community is capable of helping itself”

Sarah Harrison is co-chair of the Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Reference Group of the international church network ACT Alliance. A qualified psychologist from the Swedish Church, she has been helping people for many years in disaster and crisis regions throughout the world.

Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe Why is psychosocial support impor-tant for people affected by disasters?sarah Harrison Disasters create a wide range of problems experienced at individual, family, community and societal levels. At each of these levels, they erode the existing protec-tive mechanisms and tend to amplify pre-existing problems of social injustice and inequality. Mental health and psycho-social support (MHPSS) responses seek to minimise the negative effects of a disaster or conflict by creating an envi-ronment which enables people to deal with what they have experienced. If the people affected do not receive psychosocial support, they then run the risk of developing more serious mental health disorders such as depression, post- traumatic stress disorder or alcohol addiction.

→ What experience do you have of psycho-social support after earthquakes?← Psychosocial support after earthquakes needs to focus on working with people who have suffered serious injuries or disabilities as a direct result of the earthquake. They must be helped to deal with their fears and distress, espe-cially children. After the earthquake in Haiti in 2010, for example, many people were extremely afraid of entering buildings. But they were also scared of the earthquake itself, since they did not understand why or how such earthquakes occur. Many Haitians thought that God was angry with them for doing something wrong, and had sent the earthquake as punishment. Such an interpretation can lead people to feel guilty on top of their feelings of fear.

In Iran in 2003, we worked with psychology students at the local university to respond to people who had suffered disa-bilities (such as loss of limbs, paralysis) as a result of the earthquake. We helped people in the rehabilitation stage of their recovery to come to terms with their new situation and adapt to living with a disability.

In Japan in 2011, the psychosocial response primarily tar-geted the children and young people in emergency shelters. We created safe areas, in which they could play and continue schooling. But since Japan is a wealthy, developed country its medical health and social services were able to respond to and meet the needs of the affected populations with minimal support required from outside.

→ What mistakes should be avoided?← Over-pathologising people who have suffered from a disaster. Many people have enormous levels of resilience and they can, and do, recover quickly after a disaster by rebuilding their lives and homes and seeking new liveli-hoods. Television pictures showing the extreme emotions of people affected by a disaster can lead us to think that they need specialist psychological and psychiatric care and support. But that’s often not the case. Alongside food, water, shelter and security, they simply need the love, care and support of their families, friends and communities.

→ Is the psychosocial aspect given sufficient consideration in relief work?← No, more work has to be done in this area. But much of this simply involves realising that affected families and communities actually do have resources and capacities that just need to be mobilised in the event of a disaster. It is incredibly empowering for someone to be able to rebuild his or her own house or livelihood after a disaster. And even more so, if they are given the opportunity to help others.

Sarah Harrisonexpert for psychosocial support with the Act Alliance

“my heart is broken, but I can live again!”Carolin Reintjes, worked as project officer with the Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe from 2009 until 2012

The 26th December 2003 changed the city of Bam and the lives of its inhabitants forever. For only 12 seconds the earth shook under the desert city in south-eastern Iran at a magnitude of 6.5. Then, 40,000 building collapsed like a house of cards. Almost nothing was left standing. Even the world famous fortress, Arg-é Bam, was badly damaged. Officially, 30,000 people died but many say that in the days and weeks following the earthquake twice as many were buried in the cemeteries on the edge of the city.

On the seventh anniversary of the earthquake, many survi-vors come to the graves. They pray, light candles, lay flowers and remember the relatives and friends they have lost. One of them is the 26-year-old Zahra. “My heart broke that day”, she says looking at the grave of her parents and siblings. Reconstruction in Bam has since then been completed. Jour-nalists and aid organisations have moved on – yet many unseen wounds remain.

Avoiding past mistakes“The scale of the emergency and need for aid were immense”, is how Sema Genel remembers the days following the earth-quake. Water, food, blankets, tents, latrines – everything was lacking, according to the head of Diakonie Katastro-phenhilfe’s regional office for Western and Central Asia.

“It wasn’t only that houses were destroyed but also the city’s infrastructure: roads, the water and electricity supply, schools, both hospitals. Many doctors and nurses lost their lives”. Thousands of children were suddenly left alone, countless survivors seriously injured and traumatised.

The earthquake had such a destructive impact because the houses in the region were traditionally built using sundried, unbaked clay bricks. As a result of the earthquake, the clay bricks crumbled to dust, which meant there were no life- saving cavities among the ruins, experts explained.

For Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe, the greatest challenge came after the emergency aid with the beginning of recon-struction. “The scale of destruction and selecting who was to benefit from reconstruction was a huge problem”


explains Tommy Bouchiba, a longstanding advisor to the Protestant aid agency. But not only that. “During recon-struction, we attempted to avoid past mistakes”, he contin-ues. “The buildings had to be constructed in a way that would improve their chances of withstanding future disas-ters. At the same time, they had to meet occupants’ needs and local circumstances. And, naturally, they had to be ready for inhabitation as quickly as possible.”

Every step agreed meticulouslyIn Iran, however, there were reservations about, and mis-trust of, foreign aid organisations, which meant that the administration meticulously stipulated and controlled the work that was to be done. This meant, for example, taking samples from all concrete used for the buildings and per-forming stress tests. Every step had to be agreed by the au-thorities. Decisions were made very slowly. “Getting build-ing permission was a long drawn-out process”, remembers Kai Henning, who after the earthquake was responsible for monitoring the project for Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe in Stuttgart. “And even then, it was more than possible that yet another official body would insist on new changes.”

In Bam, Baravat and the villages of Biderane Now, Biderane Kohneh, Gazdar and Nizamwafa, Diakonie Katastrophen-hilfe constructed foundations, steel skeletons and roofs for the new buildings’ occupants. Diagonal beams, wire mesh and metal cramps made the constructions earthquake- resistant. All other building work, from putting up the walls to installing electricity, had to be completed by the occupants themselves – as stipulated by the authorities. “It is, of course, important that the people are involved in the work and not forced into the position of simply being aid recipi-ents”, explains Sema Genel, “but many people in Bam had neither the energy nor the know-how and means to com-plete the houses on their own.” In some cases, agreement was indeed reached with the authorities and Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe was allowed to carry out the complete house construction. A total of 324 houses were thus com-pleted by March 2006.

Training and psychological supportBut that was not all that was accomplished – the people had to be given the opportunity to make a living and take their lives into their own hands. Therefore, additional programmes, various training and educational courses were offered, for example in foreign languages and building skills. Also, the workshops of small craft businesses were re-equipped. Psychological support was intended to help earthquake survivors’ deal with their trauma. “We are still overjoyed

and can hardly believe all the support we were given”, says Abas Kalandari, who moved with his family into his new home in Biderane Now four years ago. “The house is good and safe. Not a single crack”, he states with satisfaction. His new home has already had to withstand several small earthquakes.

A school for children with disabilitiesEnthusiasm and motivation are the most important char-acteristics of the children and young people in her school, reports Azade Madahiyan. Several times each week, the young speech therapist visits the centre built by Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe in Baravat. Children with physical and mental disabilities receive tuition, learn a craft and also receive medical and therapeutic treatment. The earthquake not only meant that many people were made disabled or lost body parts – through the loss of family, their social net-work also vanished. The Iranian “Sepehr Bam Charity Organisation” that took over the building from Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe cares for orphans, the elderly and people with disabilities, who are in particular need of help.

The media reported extensively on the hopelessness and the sluggish rate of reconstruction in Bam. Seven years after the earthquake, however, the city, situated on one of the routes of the Silk Road, is once again full of life. Few ruins are to be seen in the city. The biggest is the old Arg-é Bam citadel, once a tourist attraction. Apart from that, one sees small and middle-sized houses that are often unplastered, almost as if they wanted to proudly display their horizontal steel beams, which give the walls the stability they need.

“My heart broke that day,” Zahra says in the cemetery. Yet, while she lays some white flowers on her family’s grave, she adds: “But I can live again.”

Peru

after the earthquake is before the earthquakeTommy Ramm, Regional office, Colombia

Wherever in the world the earth quakes, one of the lasting consequences – alongside the many deaths and massive destruction – is often the constant fear of new tremors. Yet, protective measures in high-risk areas could help considerably reduce the impact of such natural disasters. Two years after reconstruction in Ica Province in Southern Peru, where, on 15th August 2007, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.9 claimed 600 lives and left about 50,000 people homeless, Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe reviewed the results.

The small-faced woman warmly embraces her visitors and leads them into her new house. A damaged wooden table stands in the hall, a milky mirror on the wall reflects the sparse furnishings. Gloria Senteno is an ordinary farmer’s wife, who only a few years before had come to San José de los Molinos to start a new life with her two sons. Her hus-band had left her. Like many other mothers in the village she has to fend for herself. The 42-year-old is delighted by the visit of Rosario Quispe from PREDES, a local organisa-tion for disaster risk reduction. It is two years since the two women last saw one another. At that time, shortly after the powerful earthquake, Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe, together with PREDES and other local partners, provided

emergency aid. Gloria Senteno, too, received help. In the earthquake, she lost her adobe house. For several months, she and her children had to survive without a solid roof over their heads.

Protection through new building methodsAfter the emergency relief phase, reconstruction began. In San José de los Molinos alone, PREDES built 100 “improved Quinchas”. The traditional huts, made of reeds and clay bricks, were structurally and technically improved, incorpo-rating wood and a solid concrete foundation to make them earthquake-resistant. PREDES has been using this tech-

ProJeCt FunDInG euro

Emergency aid 1.200.00

Rehabilitation 1.500.00

Building measures 3.100.00

Administration costs 400.00

total 6.200.00


nique for several years. As well as being fitted with a cooking area and latrine, the houses were also connected to a water supply, after the organisation for disaster risk reduction had repaired and extended the damaged water network. In April 2009, the last families moved into their new homes.

The aim of the reconstruction project was to persuade people that it would be better in future to use the new, more stable technique instead of the unsafe adobe construction. For that reason, the villagers were actively involved in building their new homes. Each building phase was accompanied by train-ing and educational material to ensure this knowhow was firmly embedded in the community. The new houses, each costing about 2,500 euros, were half as expensive as brick buildings and they have stood the test. Two years after com-pletion, they are still in near-perfect condition. Occupants have lovingly decorated the facades. In addition, good aeration and ample ceiling height provide a pleasant room climate in this desertlike area. The occupants of the “im-proved Quinchas” now react more calmly to the smaller earthquakes that have regularly shaken the earthquake prone region in recent years. None of the new houses have so far been damaged. “The houses may move like cardboard, but nothing has been destroyed”, one occupant confirms. The flexibility of the construction makes the buildings safer. Rosaria Quispe is also satisfied. “After the earthquake, we immediately assessed the condition of the “Quinchas” already constructed in the region and established that all had remained intact”, she happily declares.

Vulnerability as a consequence of high poverty levelOne of the main reasons for the devastating impact of earthquakes in the region is poor preparation among the population, maintains Martina Grahl, who worked at the time in Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe’s regional office in Colombia with responsibility for the Andes zone. “Many people in the region are migrants, who spontaneously settle in the high-risk areas”, she explains. “The high level of pov-erty among these people and the absence of effective public preventive measures mean they are especially vulnerable to natural disasters. That is why Diakonie Katastrophen-hilfe initiated further projects alongside the improved house building technique as a contribution to risk reduction. Thus, the local civil protection committee carries out regular earthquake simulations, since only continuous training can adequately prepare the population for disaster situations.

“This has to be practised repeatedly until the point of ex-haustion”, stresses Rosaria Quispe. For the people here the following maxim is certainly true: after the earthquake is before the earthquake.

Restoring lives and livelihoods + + PaKIstan

new prospects for the future after the disasterAngelika Söhne, works as project communication officer with the public relations department

“The earthquake shook our land and our lives”, says Sabiya Azar from Pano Pindi, a small village in the province of “Azad Jammu and Kashmir” in the north of Pakistan. As in many remote mountain villages in the region, the earthquake of 8th October 2005 also caused severe damage in Pano Pindi. Almost every family in the village, which has 1,400 inhabitants, experienced death or injury. Most houses either collapsed or were seriously damaged. Yet, two years after the disaster, Sabiya Azar, a handicraft trainer, has regained hope. With the help of Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe, she and some other women in her village opened a small shop selling handicraft products.

This new start in Pano Pindi began with the relief aid after one of the worst natural disasters in Pakistan’s history. Measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale, the earthquake affected extensive areas of Kashmir near the border with India. Seventyfive thousand people lost their lives, with a further 70,000 injured. An estimated 600,000 houses within a radius of 30,000 km2 were destroyed or badly damaged. A total of three million people were affected. “The situation in our village was hopeless, the people were desperate”, is how Sabiya Azar remembers the terrible period after the earthquake. Fortunately, the relief workers from Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe quickly reached the 2,000 metre high village to provide emergency relief. With its food packages, blankets, warm clothes, plastic sheets and stoves, Diakonie

Katastrophenhilfe helped thousands of people to survive the harsh winter in Kashmir. This was followed by one of the most comprehensive and sustainable reconstruction and rehabilitation programmes since the inception of the aid agency. “We stayed on, when many other organisations had already left the country”, says Michael Frischmuth, responsible for Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe’s programmes in Asia, in highlighting the unique quality of the earth-quake response in Kashmir.

Schools and houses rebuiltAfter the provision of emergency relief throughout the winter, reconstruction began in the spring of 2006. By 2009, the

our support in southern Peru + + 220 earthquake-resistant houses were rebuilt, improving and strengthening the traditional “Quinchas” made of reeds and clay

+ + 155 latrines and improved kitchens installed in the new houses

+ + drinking water network for 200 families repaired and extended

+ + sanitary facilities (showers and water filters) installed for 155 families + + earthquake-resistant community centre built for 800 families + + psychosocial support provided for 120 families + + civil protection committee and the youth group JOVOS given disaster risk reduction training and preparation + +

PaCIFIC rInG oF FIre+ + The earthquake of August 2007 was the most powerful in Peru in the last two decades. The country is repeatedly plagued by earthquakes due to the fact that the whole Pacific coast from Tierra del Fuego to North America is part of the “Pacific Ring of Fire”, a chain of volcanoes spanning large parts of the Pacific Ocean. More- over, it is also here that the Nazca Plate meets the South American Continental Plate. The consequences of this are frequent volcanic eruptions and regular seismic shocks along the Andes range. + +


aid agency, together with its local partners, had set up 75 temporary schools to ensure the quick resumption of schooling, 15 community centres and 238 homes for wid-ows. Twentyseven health units as well as several bridges and link roads were repaired. One other major project was the permanent reconstruction of destroyed school build-ings: two elementary schools, a middle school and a high school. Something this already poor region could not have achieved unaided. The reconstruction itself proved to be a logistical and physical challenge: building material often had to be carried into the mountains by relief workers on foot or with the help of mules. The inhabitants of the de-stroyed villages lent a hand, clearing streets of rubble and other debris or performing basic building tasks. Restoring the supply of drinking water to villages scattered widely throughout the mountains proved especially laborious. Thousands of kilometres of water pipes had to be repaired or relaid. Through this, access to clean drinking water was restored to more than 25,000 people in 24 villages in the Union Council of Chikar.

Achieving food security through agricultureAnother important objective was to restore the livelihoods of those affected by the earthquake and help them make a new start. Many families had not only lost all their posses-sions in the earthquake but also their jobs and, hence, in-come. Commerce and farming in a region that already had

a poor infrastructure had come to a standstill. More than 10,000 farmers received seeds for wheat or maize and fertil-iser, to enable them to provide food for their families as quickly as possible. In addition, as part of their agricultural programmes, local partner organisations distributed more than 25,000 fruit trees. They also equipped families with beehives for honey production, organised immunisation campaigns for sheep and goats and helped with the creation of vegetable plots and the construction of greenhouses. The only undertaking that failed was the attempt to estab-lish the cultivation of strawberries and mushrooms as a means of extending the range of food available.

“The people in the region are used to looking after them-selves”, declares Michael Frischmuth. “They wanted to be able to stand on their own two feet again as soon as pos-sible. That’s why there was such an enthusiastic response to our vocational training courses. This helped us create new sources of income”. In accelerated courses, young people could train as joiners, electricians or plumbers or learn English or computer skills. By 2009, more than 1,300 women and men had taken advantage of the educational opportunities. Many course participants were subsequently able to find well-paid jobs. Feedback from trainees, however, suggest that employment prospects could be improved if the courses were longer and a government approved quali-fication or equivalent certificate awarded to successful participants.

Women especially badly affectedEmpowering women was another priority consideration.

“The situation of women, who lost their husbands in the earthquake, was especially difficult”, explains Sema Genel, who coordinated the local relief activities. “For example, they have no right to possess their own land”. That is why many of them were left with nothing after the death of their husbands, with no support from the state or their rela-tions. To help those women left to their own devices as a result of the disaster, the partner organisations created

“women-friendly” spaces in the community centres. Women can still meet there, share information, attend courses or acquire information on health and issues of hygiene. The psychosocial support also helps them deal with the horrors of the disaster.

Reinforcing self-initiativeIn Pano Pindi’s Community Centre, Sabiya Azar and Sumera Ghulam came up with a bright idea: The two handicrafts instructors offered to train other women from the surrounding area. There was a huge response. Before long, young women were meeting regularly to learn sewing, embroidery and other handicraft skills. When the work they produced provoked such a positive reaction, they had the idea of put-ting their products on the market. After start-up funding was provided by Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe, the Pano Pindi

women’s enterprise was soon able to open its own shop. Through selling their merchandise they contribute to the funding of the community centre. “Our project has not only shown women that they can learn new skills but also make a living”, the two trainers proudly report.Four years after the earthquake, life is returning to the region”, stated a group of experts that visited the project region in 2009 to evaluate the earthquake programmes.

“The disaster has not been forgotten,” their evaluation concludes. “But Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe programmes have helped those affected to take their lives into their own hands.”Total cost for livelihood and social protection inter-ventions (support in agriculture, vocational training, women friendly spaces and psychosocial activities) was around 435,000 euros, approximately seven percent of the total programme budget.


Disaster risk reduction + + WorlDWIDe

Disaster risk reduction in earthquake risk areasPeter Rottach, Project coordinator for climate change and disaster risk reduction

Earthquake prediction remains an unfulfilled dream – risk reduction is therefore all the more crucial. It is fundamen-tally based on three key components:1. optimal preparation to ensure that the affected people

can receive help as quickly and efficiently as possible2. flexible and diversified economic structures, which

allow individuals and affected states to implement reconstruction as quickly as possible and – at least in terms of meeting basic needs – to reinstate pre-disaster conditions

3. earthquake-resistant construction in order to minimise as much as possible the loss of human life and damage

Being prepared for emergenciesThe initial hours after an earthquake are decisive for the survival of most people. Those who have been affected are primarily reliant on their own resources or the assistance of neighbours. Intact neighbourly relations are therefore the essence of efficient emergency planning. Risk reduction efforts should, therefore, primarily aim to reinforce such neighbourly community-based self-help systems.

Insurance cover also for the poorThe poorer a country is, the more susceptible it is to disasters and the greater the economic setback it will subsequently experience. One element of disaster risk reduction that is taken for granted in more affluent countries, and that is at best available to wealthy population groups in many poor countries, are insurance schemes. Non-governmental organisations have been attempting for years to ensure that the benefits of insurance against disaster are also accessible to poor sections of the population. Some organisations themselves provide insurance equivalent services or are attempting to persuade commercial providers or governments to offer insurance products suitable for the poorer population. Yet, the more the risk increases, the more difficult it becomes to obtain insurance and the more expensive the premiums become. One alternative could be savings and disaster funds, into which members regularly pay small amounts. Similar to micro-savings systems at village level, such funds, however, appear to be successful only in the long-term, when they can also be of benefit to the people in normal times.

1 cf.: Minke, Gernot: Erbebensichere Häuser aus Lehm, Universität Kassel, 2004.

dangerous

dangerous

dangerous

Instituto nacional de investigacion y normalizacion de la vivienda (ININVI), Peru.

Minke, Gernot: Construction manual for earthquake-resistant houses built of earth, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH, Eschborn 2001.

Earthquake-resistant constructionConcepts of earthquake-resistant construction range from extremely complex and expensive high-tech variants to low-cost procedures, which are primarily intended for the poorest of the poor. Yet, in reality, in the countries of the South, the houses of the poor are only seldom responsible for the biggest loss of human life. The injuries brought about by the collapse of such houses are rarely life-threat-ening – in total contrast to the injuries that can be caused by the collapse of the houses of the more affluent urban population. Hence, the majority of earthquake fatalities are found among the lower-middle-classes. For, although this group can afford solid houses built of bricks and con-crete, according to statistics from the “Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters” (CRED), they have in- sufficient means for earthquake-resistant constructions.

The houses of poor population groups are normally built with locally available building material such as clay. Yet, the fact that earthquake-resistant houses can also be built with this material has been demonstrated by the research and development work of the University of Kassel in Germany. Their recommendations for earthquake- resistant construction using clay include the following1:

+ house corners should be stabilised by diametrical structures

+ walls need to be anchored in a solid foundation with iron or bamboo rods

+ outer walls should be separate from roof-supporting elements

+ doors and windows should be situated in the centre of walls, and should be as small as possible

+ a ring beam, which is able to withstand the bending forces of earthquakes is essential and should be fixed with strong joints to the roof and walls.

Just as important as the material and construction is the location of the house, especially if it is on a slope. The ex-act location should, where possible, prevent it from sliding down such a slope. At the same time, however, considera-tion must always be given to the risk of landslides. Fore-sighted thinking, planning and construction can thereby also prevent much of the suffering and hardship of poor people and minimise setbacks to economic development.

safe


HaItI

better quality will lead to better protectionTommy Ramm, Regional office, Colombia

During reconstruction in the south of Haiti, Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe is focusing on sustainable house construction. Instead of complicated and expensive transitional solutions, over a thousand earthquake and hurricane-resistant houses have already been built in various towns and communities using mainly local materials. These should offer people better protection from future disasters.

The smell of pine and cement fill the camp. Neatly stacked planks, squared timbers and beams run along one side of the yard, which Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe has made available for building material for reconstruction in Bainet. A zinc roof protects the material from rain. Important, because wood is scarce in Haiti and must be imported. Only a few trees remain standing on the country’s eroded hillsides. The rest were used over the decades as fuel for cooking. “This is the only material that has to be brought in to the country,” says Jens Sohr. “All other materials used to build the houses come from within the region, which lowers costs and supports the local economy.” The German reconstruction engineer has been in charge of Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe’s recon-struction projects in Haiti since May 2010. By the beginning of 2012, he and his Haitian colleagues had rebuilt 1,180 houses – despite the very difficult conditions. In La Vallée and Petit Goâve the hard work continues. By the middle of the year at least 400 more houses should be finished.

A logistical and physical challengeWhile Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe has completed 300 houses in districts of Jacmel, work is still in progress on the hills, valleys and slopes of La Vallée, an hour’s drive away. On the way to the scattered sites, be it over washed out gravel roads or through stony riverbeds, one quickly becomes aware of the challenges. “The work is primarily a logistical and physical challenge,” says Sohr, skilfully steer-ing the jeep around deep potholes. Lorries deliver the construction materials to central locations, before family members, on foot or using mules, transport the wood, cement, steel and stone to their plots. Diakonie Katastro-phenhilfe building squads need about ten days to complete a house. By the end of 2011, up to 640 construction workers had worked full steam on reconstruction in the region. Finally, Jens Sohr stops outside a completed house. The simple building, with a floor area of 25 square metres, consists of a large room with two doors and two windows.

“We have adapted the buildings to local realities,” says Sohr.

Whereas houses in Haiti’s towns and cities were predomi-nantly built using inferior quality and poorly fixed concrete – consequently burying thousands of people in the earthquake, Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe has often retained traditional methods in rural areas using wooden frame structures, which are more flexible and earthquake-resistant. In the case of houses built with hollow blocks, it is vital that these are reinforced and fixed with construction steel. Ring beams and a solid foundation make these houses earth-quake and hurricane-resistant.

Quality must be guaranteedIn designing the houses, Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe took advantage of its years of re-construction experience following storms and earthquakes. In addition, a team of technicians from two Peruvian partner organisations contributed their experience of earthquakes. The upshot of all this was that as well as the use of improved construction methods, the quality of building materials was also an important consid-eration: for disaster risk reduction begins with reconstruc-tion. “Particularly with regard to the concrete mixing ratios, we had to take samples to compensate for the poor quality of the local sand,” Sohr explains. To ensure stability, the hollow blocks used are produced in our own building yard. The roof design is also new: Whereas, traditionally, houses were built with gable roofs, the new houses now have flat pyramid roofs. Because these have less surface area they are not as vulnerable to the frequent hurricanes in the coastal region. Strong joints fixing it to the house structure, special metal brackets and extra-thick wooden slats and nails reduce the risks even further. Depending on the material and construction, a house costs between 2,000 and 3,650 Euros .1

1 This includes the cost of material and labour. It does, however, exclude the cost of transport, which in these difficult to access rural areas can increase the total cost by about 30 percent.

Interview “It is important to build more homes”Jens Sohr, construction engineer from Germany, has been responsible for Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe’s reconstruction of destroyed or damaged houses in southern Haiti since May 2010.

Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe How did the work begin in Haiti?Jens sohr Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe had an advantage in that it was already active in south-eastern Haiti before the earthquake. After the severe hurricanes of 2008, we had already put up emergency shelters and rebuilt numerous houses to hurricane-resistant standards. This improved coordination with the local authorities. The experience gained through this now feeds into our current activities. The construction methods employed at that time have proved effective: apart from a few small cracks, none of the houses incurred serious damage. We learned relatively quickly that transitional shelters and prefabricated struc-tures were not an alternative. The optimal solution, there-fore, was to orient our reconstruction efforts to traditional construction methods using local materials.

→ Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe has developed two model houses, one made of wood, the other of stone. Which is used more frequently?← In terms of structural physics, stone houses are better suited and less vulnerable to tropical conditions. They also provide an ideal indoor climate. Logistically, wooden houses can be built more easily and quickly in the mountains since wood is lighter to transport than heavy stone blocks. Stone houses are generally preferred, but people are also curious as to what

it’s like to live in a wooden house. Many people – especially those who are older – have been frightened by the earth-quake and feel more secure in a wooden house.

→ What are the special features of the houses?← In structural terms the wooden houses resemble tradi-tional Haitian houses, since we also use a timber frame construction. For stone houses, we use hollow blocks with a reinforced concrete skeleton to ensure safety and earth-quake-resistance. The crucial difference is the quality. In Haiti, the sand is of poor quality – very fine and calcareous. Hence, a higher proportion of cement is required in the concrete mix to achieve good consistency. Ensuring this is achieved is our most important task. That’s why we make our own stone blocks in our building yard in Bainet.

→ What comes next?← By mid 2012, we want to complete another 400 houses in La Vallée, about an hour’s drive from Bainet. Building houses is still definitely important. I reckon that in the mountains around Bainet, about 2,000 people affected by the earthquake are still having to live in really appalling conditions. Some live in tents or wooden shacks that will not survive the next hurricane.


PaKIstan

Interview “the villagers can now help themselves”In September 2007, nearly two years after the devastating earthquake in Kashmir/Pakistan, Diakonie Katas- trophenhilfe, in conjunction with a local partner organisation, launched a comprehensive project on "community- based disaster risk reduction." The beneficiaries of the programme were 61 villages selected in the province of Azad Jammu and Kashmir in north-eastern Pakistan, which, due to their location, are especially threatened by landslides and earthquakes. Within a year, civil protection committees were formed and trained in the villages, and the population was prepared through a series of training and preventive measures. Sema Genel, who coordinated earthquake relief at the time, is now head of Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe’s regional office in Istanbul, Turkey. The regional office oversees all of the aid agency's projects in Central and West Asia.

Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe Why did you decide to start a pro-ject on community-based disaster risk reduction after the earth-quake in Kashmir?sema Genel The local partner organisation we started work-ing with right after the earthquake was a community-based development organisation. In conjunction with community organisations, it had already been involved in rural develop-ment. We thought that this was a perfect opportunity to work on disaster risk reduction at community level. This was also a way for us to link relief work with sustainable development by strengthening and training local people – from the indi-vidual household level to district level authorities.

→ What are the distinguishing features of community-based disaster risk reduction?← The “soft” component consists of knowing which preven-tive and reactive measures should be implemented in the event of a disaster. Being prepared for disasters means that each person has to know how to protect themselves and how to act appropriately when a disaster strikes. This is usually achieved through training individuals, households or whole village communities. The “hard” component consists of structural measures taken to reduce the impact of prob-able disasters. In the case of earthquakes, these include structural improvements to

existing buildings and constructing new buildings to earth-quake-resistant standards.

→ How was the project implemented?← Initially, we worked together with the villagers to assess the disaster risks prevalent in their particular area. On this basis, each community designed their own risk reduction measures, for example, stabilising slopes at risk of land-slides, building culverts and drains to divert rainwater and reforestation. In addition, volunteers were trained in disaster protection measures. They then trained other people in their villages. To reinforce the knowledge and skills, disaster drills were conducted in each village.

→ What other measures did you implement?← We formed disaster management committees in each target village. They received additional training and acted as the link between the community and the local govern-ment by passing on all data related to what was being done in their villages to the relevant government offices. We also trained staff working in these offices. These linkages bet-ween the communities and their environment were an im-portant component of the project. This was a way of ensur-ing that the 61 communities were not isolated in their disaster preparedness and risk reduction efforts.

→ How was the project received by the affected people in the communities?← The memory of the earthquake was still vivid in the minds of many people. It was precisely because of this trau-matic experience that the community members wanted to learn how to protect themselves against such future disas-ters and be able to save lives in the event of a disaster.

→ What happened after the one-year project came to an end?← We deliberately designed the project in such a way that would enable our partner organisation to use it in other development programmes. Hence, staff in key positions such as project managers and master trainers received capacity building training. In fact, after the project was completed, it was replicated in Baluchistan, in the south-ernmost province of Pakistan.

Within the project itself, the disaster management commit-tees were formed by members of existing local organisations, which are responsible for the long-term management of community needs and village development projects. In other words, we made use of established structures. Disaster preparedness, emergency response and risk reduction are now firmly on the agenda in the periodic planning meetings of these organisations. Disaster risk reduction has thus also been mainstreamed at community level.

→ Will communities involved in the project be better prepared for future earthquakes?← This fundamentally depends on the risk reduction meas-ures taken at community level – the risk of an earthquake occurring cannot be reduced. Communities can only decrease their vulnerability to earthquakes. Apart from the construction of earthquake-resistant buildings, simple structural measures can also make a difference. These in-clude ensuring that furniture is firmly secured and removing breakable objects from living spaces inside homes.

However, it is even more important that the village popula-tion is prepared and responds appropriately should an earthquake strike. The first 72 hours are the most critical, as the vast majority of the injured will die within this period. That is why the community members in a rural setting, where emergency services are practically non-existent, must be able to extinguish fires, search for victims and rescue them, and administer first-aid. In line with this, each disaster management committee has received an emergency response kit, which consists of helmets, gloves, ladders, shovels, axes, crowbars, torches, a megaphone and first-aid kits.

→ How do you rate the success of the community-based disaster risk reduction project?← At the end of the project an evaluation study was under-taken, in which we compared the knowledge, attitude and practical skills of participants at the end of the project with the data of a baseline study at the start. I am able to say that the results were really impressive.

Sema GenelHead of the regional office Turkey


lessons learnt

experiences of humanitarian aid after earthquakesVolker Gerdesmeier, Head of Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe from 2008 to 2011

Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe regards itself as a “learning organisation”. Along with its partners, it seeks to learn from previous relief operations as a means of continuously improving its work. To help it achieve this ambitious goal, it collaborated with Caritas international in 2010 to draw up a joint concept of “Impact Monitoring in Humanitarian Aid” to assess the impact of relief operations. Thus, for example, evaluations should provide information as to whether the aid provided really did reach those in greatest need, if it enabled them to protect themselves more effectively against future disasters and if there was proper compliance with the relevant quality standards for humanitarian aid.

The provision of emergency aid after the earthquake in Kashmir, Pakistan in 2005 and the ensuing five-year recon-struction programme were among the biggest aid interven-tions ever conducted by Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe. A comprehensive impact evaluation of the intervention allowed important conclusions to be drawn for humanitarian aid after earthquakes:

+ The swift delivery of emergency aid created a good basis for the subsequent development-oriented reconstruction. Within two days of the earthquake, our staff were on the spot. In collaboration with the local population and part-ners, they carried out a needs assessment that set the course for extensive relief operations.

+ Earthquakes call for a particularly swift deployment of

1 Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe: Kashmir Relief and Recovery Operation. Impact evaluation report, Stuttgart 2009. 2 Guha-Sapir and Vos: Earthquakes, an Epidemiological Perspective on Patterns and Trends. In: Spence, R. et al. (eds.): Human Casualties in Earthquakes, Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research, CRED Brussels 2011.

personnel. In contrast to other natural disasters, such as slowly rising floodwaters or droughts, earthquakes happen suddenly and have a massive potential for destruction. Aid organisations must, therefore, have well-prepared specialists readily available to enable them to respond appropriately. Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe continues its work in training local partner organisations in earth-quake prone regions to cope with potential emergency situations.

+ Actively involving the affected population and making use of its own resources were at the heart of the relief operations and reconstruction. The benefits of a context- related approach to aid provision, as practised for many years by Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe, was again con-firmed here.

+ Programmatic depth took precedence over geographic spread. Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe coordinated its area of operation with other humanitarian organisations and concentrated its activities on two districts. Aid provided after the earthquake in Haiti in 2010 followed the same principle.

+ The much called for linking of relief, reconstruction and development proved a success. From the outset, Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe had planned a gradual with-drawal from the programmes. Personnel from partner organisations were given specific training during the joint reconstruction phase, to enable them to continue with the initiated processes and transfer these to development programmes.

Sharing experience between partners in the SouthDiakonie Katastrophenhilfe promotes the sharing of expe-rience between partners in the South. After the earthquake in Haiti in January 2010, Ghulam Aziz, a leading member of staff of the partner organisation in Kashmir, declared his willingness to support Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe’s team and partners in Haiti in providing relief and initial reconstruction measures, and thereby contribute the expe-rience he had gained during his years of work in Pakistan. For three months, he and a Haitian colleague coordinated work in the focus region of Jacmel in the south of the coun-try. In August 2010, a few months after his return, Pakistan was hit by devastating flooding along the Indus and several of its tributaries. Ghulam Aziz supported Diakonie Katas- trophenhilfe with reconstruction after the floods – and was, in turn, able to make use of the overseas experience he had gained in Haiti back in his home country.

A further example of the successful sharing of experience is the support for the work in Haiti by two members of staff from two partner organisation in Peru. After the severe earthquake in the province of Pisco in 2007, they had car-ried out reconstruction measures and built inexpensive and locally-adapted earthquake-resistant houses. At the invitation of Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe’s Latin American team, the two Peruvians travelled to Haiti in March 2010 to help with the development of two model houses to be used in reconstruction. While many international humani-tarian aid organisations, due to their restricted mandates, chose to build transitional shelters, Diakonie Katastrophen- hilfe pursued the permanent solution from the outset. Initially, it provided shelter for earthquake victims in tents, before beginning to clear the debris and build permanent homes. Through “cash- for-work” programmes the affected population were actively involved in the clearing up work. The local authorities appreciated both the approach and the newly constructed model houses, subsequently in-structing other aid organisations to also develop prototypes to be assessed by local authorities. This was an important step in involving and reinforcing local structures in the reconstruction process. The colleagues from Peru also played a key role in discussions with the local authorities, the Haitian civil protection committees and the coordination committees of the United Nations because they were able to refer to their experiences in Peru. There, too, precedence had been given to the immediate construction of permanent houses. A good decision, since many people in Pisco are still living in accommodation originally intended as transi-tional, but not yet replaced by permanent structures.

Disaster risk reduction as a cross- cutting issueAccording to the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED), the number of earthquakes causing significant human and economic loss has increased since the 1970s. In recent decades, 55 percent of all earthquakes and 80 percent of all deaths resulting from earthquakes have occurred in Asia. The risk of massive damage resulting from earthquakes increases proportionately with population growth, urbanisation and poverty. Earthquakes are most dangerous for poor people, who cannot afford stable houses and often have to live in high-risk locations, for example in towns and cities that develop in an unplanned, chaotic way.2 For humanitarian organisations, these findings overlap with other trends, which, in the face of climate change and the consequential increased severity of disasters such as


Interview From Pakistan to Haiti – international exchange of personnelThe provision of aid after the devastating earthquake in Pakistan in 2005 was one of the most comprehensive and successful relief operations in the history of Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe. Shortly after the disaster struck at the beginning of October, a team was on the ground providing earthquake survivors in Kashmir with emer-gency aid and relief supplies to help them through the winter. In the ensuing years, the Protestant aid agency carried out a series of projects ranging from reconstruction to disaster risk reduction. When Haiti was hit by the most severe earthquake in its history in January 2010, it seemed wise to draw on this experience from Pakistan. Ghulam Aziz, programme coordinator of Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe’s longstanding partner organisa-tion, the National Rural Support Program (NRSP), was invited to contribute his knowledge and experience to the relief operations in Haiti. The 34-year-old arrived in Haiti before the end of January to support the Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe team in the coastal town of Jacmel in the south of the country.

Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe What was your initial reaction when Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe asked you to support its relief opera-tions after the earthquake in Haiti?Gulam aziz I was delighted but also nervous because it was my first international assignment. The first time I worked together with Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe was after the 2005 earthquake in Kashmir. I then helped out after other major disasters in Pakistan, most recently in the spring of 2009 after the violent expulsions in the Northwest.

→ What were your main tasks in Haiti?← My most important task was to coordinate the emergency aid for earthquake victims in Jacmel. This primarily in-volved coordinating the logistics of unloading and securely storing relief supplies and preparing for their distribution. I also had to find accommodation for earthquake victims in tents and set up emergency camps. It was essential that these measures were carried out in close coordination not only with the Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe project office in Port-au-Prince but with the UN Coordination Committees, other aid organisations and the Government. I also helped to organise “cash-for-work” programmes and develop pre-liminary plans for the repair and reconstruction of houses.

→ How were you able to make use of your experience of the earthquake in Pakistan in the relief operations in Haiti?← While working in Pakistan, I learned that teamwork is crucial in that kind of situation. Responding to the diverse challenges of such a disaster and achieving the desired results are only possible when all members of the team are involved in the planning and support each other. Hence, mutual appreciation and motivation within the team is vital, especially when, as in Haiti, some members of staff have been directly affected by the disaster. But close coor-dination with other humanitarian aid organisations is also

extremely important. Patience and the ability to listen are essential when working in such an emergency situation. As are understanding and respect for the local culture.

→ How did the situation in Haiti differ from conditions in Kashmir in 2005?← Many things were comparatively similar. But the culture in Haiti is entirely different and I also noticed that, compared to Pakistan, there was more poverty

→ How do you assess this exchange of personnel?← This kind of personnel exchange is extremely useful. It provides an opportunity to share experiences, skills and knowledge and learn from each other. I learned many things from the team in Haiti, which will help me in my future work in Pakistan. I would recommend that further opportunities for personnel exchange should be created – not only in the event of an emergency, but also within the scope of other programmes and projects.

land-slides and flooding, can be observed. The solution as to what can possibly be done to reduce the impact of earth-quakes on particularly vulnerable population groups, also overlaps with the discussions being conducted in the face of other natural disasters.

In choosing its priority regions, Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe gives explicit consideration to the criterion of “vulnerability to the impact of earthquakes”. This was one of the reasons for opening our regional office in Turkey. In addition, dis-aster risk reduction has been one of our working priorities for many years. In close cooperation with the international church network ACT Alliance (Action by Churches Together), we have published several studies in this particular area on

“lessons learnt” and “best practice”.3 Peter Rottach, Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe’s expert on disaster risk reduction, leads the ACT Alliance working group on this issue. He was in-volved in the revision of the Sphere Handbook4 and helped ensure that disaster risk reduction was incorporated as a cross-cutting issue.

Methods developed by Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe and its partners to analyse the potential risks of natural disasters for poor population groups and plan measures to minimise risk, are not only suitable for earthquake prone regions but also for areas that are affected by other natural disasters. And, vice versa: houses in Southern Haiti that Diakonie Katastro-phenhilfe and its local partners had rebuilt to withstand future tropical storms after the hurricane there in 2008, also proved their worth during the earthquake in 2010: about 90 percent withstood the earthquake undamaged.

Implementing planned disaster risk reduction projects, firmly anchoring risk reduction components in emergency relief and reconstruction operations, the ongoing capacity build-ing of partners on the issue and the collaboration within the ACT Alliance will prepare us and our partner organisations even better for future relief interventions after earthquakes.

3 ACT International: Tackling Climate Change. Communities Making a Difference, 2009. Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe: Disaster risk reduction in times of climate change, Stuttgart 2009.4 The Sphere Handbook, published jointly by many aid organisations, contains the Humanitarian Charter and establishes minimum standards in disaster response.


Media and donations + + HaItI

only big disasters make it into the media spotlightRainer Lang, worked as press officer of the Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe from 2008 until 2013

Four devastating natural disasters in reasonably quick succession have ravaged Haiti in recent years. The terrible earthquake on 12th January 2010 alone triggered shock waves throughout the world. Within a few seconds, around 230,000 people lost their lives. There was a great wave of support for a country that has acquired the sad reputation of being the poorhouse of the Western Hemisphere.

A key role in the support of disaster victims is played by non-governmental organisations such as Diakonie Katas- trophenhilfe. The Protestant aid agency provides swift humanitarian aid. Its ability to carry out appropriate relief operations is reliant on donations.

The media play an important roleThis means that media reporting and appeals for donations are vital for the provision of this aid, as was the case in Haiti. After all, this is the only way for the general public to hear about a disaster and the suffering of the people concerned.

The close correlation is clear: without widespread media coverage there can be no large-scale income from donations. This is nothing new. But conditions surrounding relief oper-ations and within the “donations market” are changing.

It has been evident in recent years that a growing number of organisations are becoming involved in the field of disaster relief. This means that the public presentation of one’s own organisation, its qualities and achievements is gaining in importance, since outsiders are having increas-ing difficulty in differentiating between all the donation- raising organisations.

Aid organisations forming alliancesOne important indication of quality is the donations seal of approval awarded annually by the German Central Institute for Social Issues (DZI). Co-operation between organisations is also advantageous. Thus, Diakonie Katas- trophenhilfe works in close cooperation with the Catholic relief organisation Caritas international. Both are also associated with the German Red Cross and UNICEF within the “Alliance for Disaster Relief”. The fact that large, repu-table organisations join forces in this way is also important for the media as it is to their advantage to be able to speak directly to someone with competence and detailed know-ledge of the circumstances on the ground. And, a joint tele-vision appeal for donations is also more effective.

Information directly from the crisis areaIn view of the rapid changes within the media landscape, which has speeded up significantly as a result of digital tech-nology and the rise of online media, it is crucial that in the event of a disaster authentic information is delivered almost instantaneously from the crisis region. Pictures, in particular, are becoming increasingly important. Mobile devices such as smartphones allow photographs and videos to be directly transmitted along with initial reports. In the race to provide the best and quickest information, the media, today, are turning more and more to information from private sources, primarily from social media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Organisations’ websites are also becoming more significant as an information source for donors, who are now happy to make donations online.

Traditional media, such as daily or weekly news-papers and television, still play a key role. Considerable public interest is generated when a public service broadcaster interviews some-one from an aid organisation or reports on relief operations. For example on a relief flight to Haiti organised by Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe and Caritas international shortly after the earthquake – actually an exception, since sufficient relief supplies were not locally available and had to be flown into the country. At the same time, it is important for organisations to present their activities through their own channels includ-ing the Internet, social media platforms and newsletters. The work is becoming increasingly cross-medial. Thus, also the online section of newspapers has to be provided with information.

In the event of a major disaster, it is vital to have a contact person on the ground, who can speak German and give a face to the organisation. This was demonstrated in Haiti: shortly after the earthquake, the head of the Diakonie

Katastrophenhilfe office in the capital Port-au-Prince was on hand, initially via the internet and later by telephone. In the first few days after the disaster, she was seen on all German channels, providing an authentic description of the situation on the ground and presenting the work of Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe.

Only big disasters receive coverageYet, the increased level of reporting also has its dangers. Today, the tendency to exaggerate and create scandal is wide-spread in the media. And it is virtually only major disasters involving thousands of fatalities that actually manage to make it into the top news stories. Smaller earthquakes, such as the one in Chile in 2010 or those in Turkey in 2010 and 2011 have little chance of receiving much news coverage. In addition, the media are turning more and more to spectacular events. And so there is a risk that aid organisations might attempt to outdo one another. After the earthquake in Haiti, for example, television teams were offered the opportunity to use donkey trails to visit remote villages that had been completely des-troyed. And, sometimes, aid distribution is staged for the me-dia’s benefit.

Serious reporting never loses sight of the dignity of the victims. That is why it is important to direct attention more towards in-depth information and then to report subse-quently on the fortunes of those affected when new topics are already dominating the headlines. This is where aid organisations, along with the media, have a tremendous responsibility.

42 Dia konie k ata s t rophenhil fe Aspek te42

GLOSSARY

Convection currents From deep in the earth’s interior, convection currents transport thermal energy in the form of molten rock to the earth’s surface. They are the driving force behind continental drift.

earth’s crust The earth’s crust is the outermost layer of the earth, which on the continents is 20 to 70 kilometres thick, but under the oceans only about ten kilometres thick.

epicentre The epicentre is the place on the earth’s surface that lies directly above the hypocentre.

Hypocentre The hypocentre (also commonly called the focus) is the place within the earth where an earthquake rupture starts. Directly above, on the earth’s surface lies the epicentre.

lava When magma, for example through a volcanic erup-tion, makes its way from the earth’s interior to the surface, it is called lava.

lithosphere The lithosphere is the outer solid part of the earth, including the crust and uppermost mantle.

magma The hot, viscous molten rock inside the earth is called magma. When it comes to the earth’s surface, it is called lava.

magnitude The magnitude is a measure of the relative size of an earthquake. To determine the magnitude, ground motion is recorded by a seismograph. In addition to the Richter scale, there are a number of other magnitude scales. Thus, the magnitude of earthquakes is now often measured by the Moment Magnitude scale.

mercalli scale Named after the Italian vulcanologist Giuseppe Mercalli (1850 – 1914), who developed a method of describing the severity of an earthquake in terms of its effects on the earth’s surface and on humans and their structures. A further modification of the Mercalli scale is the twelve-stage European Macroseismic scale, used in many countries to assess the effects of an earthquake.

Plate tectonics Plate tectonics is the theory of the struc-ture of the earth’s crust and the forces acting on the crust.

P waves Primary waves are triggered by an earthquake. They travel in the direction of propagation within the earth, shaking the ground back and forth, and reach up to 20 times the speed of sound waves.

rayleigh wave The Rayleigh wave, named after Lord Rayleigh (1842 – 1919), is created by the refraction of S and P waves at the earth’s surface. Because of its rolling motion it is particularly destructive.

richter scale In 1935, the American scientist Charles Francis Richter (1900 – 1985) developed a method to measure the strength of earthquakes. The measurement is based on the fluctuations of seismographs.

seismograph A seismograph records the vibrations of the earth’s surface. It operates on the basis of the physical prin-ciple of the inertia of mass.

seismologist A seismologist studies earthquakes and seis-mic waves.

subduction zone In plate tectonics, a subduction zone refers to an area where two plates come together, one riding over the other. These zones are characterised by frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity.

s waves Secondary waves are triggered by earthquakes and shake the ground back and forth perpendicular to the direction the wave is moving. They are only half as fast as P waves.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND WEB LINKS

Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe publications in english

Aspekte: Humanitarian Aid in Wars and Conflicts 44 pages, 2010Art. No. 219 100 560

Aspekte: Disaster Risk Reduction in Times of Climate Change 32 pages, 2009Art. No. 219 200 080

Annual Report 2012 29 pagesArt. No. 219 1 0010 3

Common Statement by Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe and Caritas international 8 pages, 2004Art. No. 213 101 030

www.diakonie-katastrophenhilfe.de

or order from: Diakonisches Werk der EKD e. V. Zentraler VertriebPhone +49 30 65211 0, Fax +49 30 65211 [email protected]/shop

Websites on earthquakes

Germanywww.geozentrum-hannover.deBundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe (BGR)

www.gfz-potsdam.deDeutsches GeoForschungsZentrum (GFZ)

usawww.iris.eduIncorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS)

www.usgs.govUnited States Geological Survey (USGS)

Imprint Published by Evangelisches Werk für Diakonie und Entwicklung, Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe, Caroline-Michaelis-Straße 1, 10115 Berlin, [email protected] editors Cornelia Geidel, Angelika Söhne, Jörg Jenrich, Lea Traut, Stefan Libisch, Thomas Sandner (V.i.S.d.P.) translation John McLaughlin Prepress HKS-Artmedia, Leinfelden

Design Factor Design, Hamburg Print RetschDruck, Nagold. Paper 100 % recovered paper order number 219 1 0069 0, published in November 2013

TitelHaItI A father carries his young daughter through the completely destroyed capital Port-au-Prince shortly after the earthquake in 2010.

PhotosFront page Jonathan Ernst/ACT Alliance Page 03 Christoph Püschner Page 04 Oliver Reinhardt Page 05 Thomas Lohnes Page 10 Christoph Püschner Page 11 Paul Jeffrey/ACT Alliance Page 12 Carlos Guerrero Page 13 Kerem Yücel Page 14 Paul Jeffrey/ACT Alliance, Oliver Reinhardt Page 15 Oliver Reinhardt, Rainer Lang, Thomas Lohnes Page 16 Oliver Reinhardt Page 17 Oliver Reinhardt Page 18 Jonathan Ernst/ACT Alliance Page 19 Jonathan Ernst/ACT Alliance Page 20 PELKESI privat Page 23 Carolin Reintjes Page 24 Carolin Reintjes Page 25 PREDES/ Hector Chambi Holguín Page 26 PREDES Page 27 Paul Jeffrey/ACT Alliance Page 28 Paul Jeffrey/ACT Alliance Page 29 Paul Jeffrey/ACT Alliance Page 30 Thomas Lohnes Page 32 Thomas Lohnes Page 34 Volker Gerdesmeier Page 35 Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe Page 36 Paul Jeffrey/ACT Alliance Page 38 Oliver Reinhardt Page 39 Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe Page 40 Thomas Lohnes back page Oliver Reinhardt, Thomas Lohnes

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