In Indonesia, a gate is often built as a sign of a village or public places. In Mentawai Island, there are lots of welcoming cate which is usually used to inform the name of the village to the visitors. Never have they built information gate which gives information about disaster alertness. This has motivated Community Resilience Unit (Satlinmas) and CDRM&CDS to build disaster alertness gate in Polaga sub-village.
The villagers in Polaga, Matobe village, strongly supported this idea and participated in gate construction. In that gate, they wrote, “Tarek Tubu Itata’ Ake Pulutokat”, which means alertness eliminates fear.
In Polaga, disaster alertness is very important because this area is located in coastal area and is vulnerable to Tsunami. Therefore, besides building the gate, sub-village head of Polaga, Agustian Sakoikoi, keeps on motivating and reminding the people to remain alert.
CDRM&CDS also facilitated various training such as Hazards, Vulnerability, and Capacity Assessment (HVCA); training on disaster risk reduction; and training on emergency responses (first aid, water&sanitation, early warning system, and many more) to improve community alertness.
By: Mentawai CEF
