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Resilient Schools & Youth

Every year, natural disasters disrupt children’s education in poor countries. The direct damage injures students and destroys poorly-constructed school buildings. In the aftermath, teaching and learning suffer. Children who lose their school may not be able to finish their studies.

 

The promise of an education is vital for every child. That’s why we work with youth, educators, and builders to make schools safer from disasters.

Videos

Videos

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"When an earthquake destroys schools, it takes away the children’s future —and with it, the future of the country itself. In the 1988 Nepal earthquake, the destruction of 14,000 classrooms was significant, but more so was the fact that 300,000 children couldn’t go to school for years afterwards."

Madhab Mathema

Former Senior Human Settlements Advisor, United Nations Center for Human Settlements (HABITAT)

Projects

Projects

Rapid Post Earthquake Community-Sourced Data Collection

2021

Haiti

A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck Haiti’s southern peninsula in August 2021, causing extensive building failures that killed thousands.

School Seismic Vulnerability Assessments

2020 - Present

Amargadhi, Nepal

Findings indicate the extent of risk to schoolchildren in the typical school building types found in a fast-growing municipality in far west Nepal.

Rapid Diagnostic of School Infrastructure

2020

Haiti

Findings about schools' vulnerability to natural hazards, climate change, and infrastructure deficiencies will inform plans to make schools safer and more resilient.

Timoun an Aksyon (Kids in Action)

2019 - 2022

Cap-Haïtien, North Haiti

In their own voice and style, youth in Cap-Haïtien share new knowledge about their city’s extreme earthquake and coastal risks, and how to take action for disaster resilience.

Family Preparedness for Earthquakes

2016 - 2023

Haiti, Dominican Republic

This promoted preparedness steps specific to where people live, and in plain language explained the science behind local risk. Outreach in Kreyol, French, Spanish, and English.

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"I am the guardian of 1,000 children in a fifty-year old, two-story brick school that has not, unfortunately, been adequately maintained. Ten years ago, a distant, moderate earthquake produced a crack in my classroom’s wall so large that my students and I could see the garden outside. Since then, I have known what would happen to my school—and my children—in a large earthquake, unless we prepare."

Sanu Kumari Nepal

Director, Kanya Mandir Secondary School, Kathmandu, Nepal.

News

Blog