Sowing seeds of resilience

One of the secrets to Disaster READY’s success is that it is often implemented by local partners through already well-established institutions and the communities that surround them, such as schools, community groups, and the church. In Timor-Leste, for example, AHP Partners have leveraged the reach of local parishes to help the broader community better understand the importance of climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction.

Parish council, local leaders, and community members hold the tree saplings ahead of reforestation process. IMAGE: Domingos Aquino Brandão\Caritas Australia 

The parish of Natarbora is one of the parishes supported by AHP Partner, Caritas. Several activities were implemented within the parish, such as training on community-based disaster risk management and the development of a parish action plan, which incorporated some small-scale activities including reforestation. As an activity designed to mitigate the effects of climate change, reforestation is the process of sowing seeds or planting new trees in areas where native flora has recently been lost.  The parish also participated in the Church Capacity Assessment, which was part of a research project conducted in collaboration with the national university.

Father Eugenius was very impressed with how Disaster READY was supporting his parish and the broader community. IMAGE: Domingos Aquino Brandão\Caritas Australia 

Father Eusebio Puru Duli (pictured above), the parish priest of Natarbora, was impressed with the Disaster READY projects implemented. He said, “Thank you Caritas Diocesana de Baucau in supporting our parish to develop our own DRR action plan which will make our parish more resilient to disaster.”