NAZARETH CHURCH HAPPY WITH EVACUATION CENTRE MANAGEMENT TRAINING  

The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) alongside with its partners from South Sea Evangelical Church (SSEC) and Anglican Church of Melanesian (ACOM) through the Church Agency Network Disaster Operations (CANDO) are implementing the Evacuation Centre Management Training (ECMT) for its partners in Western Province.

Nazareth SSEC Church at Vorivori in West Gizo and Noro South Sea Evangelical Church have been approved for this Evacuation Centre Management Training with support from CANDO partners and ADRA Solomon Islands who was the lead agency implementing this program.

ECMT training for Vorivori SSEC began on Tuesday 21 November and will end on Friday 1st of December. Noro SSEC ECMT Training will begin on December 4 until Thursday 14 December.

The aim of this Evacuation Centre Management Training was to select volunteer representatives from these communities to build a strong, safe and responsive community.

The benefits of this workshop were to allow this faith-based community to make informed decisions regarding disaster preparedness and responses, establish an evacuation center committee for their respective communities, develop evacuation center procedures and plans for each community, develop disaster response plans for each community and develop a community profile for each community.

The ADRA Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Team who are currently facilitating the Evacuation Centre Management Training was able to interview the Elder of Nazareth SSEC Church and Founder ,Mr Frazer Zazu Nuapitu.

Mr Nuapitu ,69, was Founder and Elder of Nazareth SSEC Church was happy to receive and welcome the CANDO team facilitated the training.

‘’I was happy indeed and very excited having this training conducted here.This training was not only for disaster preparedness but also, it reminds us that time coming back of Jesus is nearing,’’Mr Nuapitu stated this in an interview with ADRA DRR Coordinator, Duran Taupongi at Nazareth SSEC Church on Tuesday.

‘’I believe, this training will change the lives of our community here and people living in this area through this training’’

‘’We’ll get good results from this training, if we are serious about this training. We went through frequent disasters here, but the 2007 Tsunami and Earthquake was the worst ever and still remains unforgettable,’Mr Nuapitu emotionally said.

In 2007 an earthquake took place on 2 April 2007, near the provincial capital of Gizo. Its magnitude was estimated at 8.1 on the Mw scale, and 7.8 on the Ms scale. The tsunami that followed the earthquake killed 52 people. West Gizo, where Vorivori community was situated, was badly affected and destroyed by the earthquake and tsunami.

However, Elder Nuapitu added that the current location of the church was where their garden was situated before the disaster but now, they relocated there fearing for the next natural disaster to happen.

“I on behalf of our church, would like to thank ADRA and its CANDO Partners for this vital training that would impacts lives in our community through this preparedness training’’

‘’Our congregation and members attending this training would go back and share with our family members what we learned from this training about disaster preparedness since we are vulnerable in disaster, ’Elder Nuapitu said.

The Australian Government Aid Funds through the Department of Foreign Affairs (DEFAT) and Australia Humanitarian Partnership (AHP) funded the program and was implemented by CANDO partners with ADRA Solomon Islands as the lead agency.

press release