When Vai was a young girl, she was never taught about disasters, or what to do when one struck. That’s why, on the day the flood came, she froze. She felt unprepared, alone and petrified.
Together with her cousins, she scrambled to the roof of the house, only narrowly avoiding being washed away by the raging floodwaters. With the waters continuing to rise, Vai and her cousins clung to coconut trees and managed to swim to a nearby hill. Vai was terrified they’d drown.
“It was very high and I was very afraid…We stayed on the hill for two days without food. It was like a nightmare,” says Vai.
It’s clear that natural disasters are a risk to all children. But because of their gender, girls are even more vulnerable.
No child should have to face this horror unprepared. Will you donate today to make sure children and their families have the information and resources they need to be safe and ready in the face of natural disaster?
Climate change is here – but we are acting today to stop it devastating lives
That day in 1992 is fixed in Vai’s memory forever. But, now at 36 with a family of her own, she’s committed to ensuring her children never have to go through something like that unprepared.
Vai’s nine-year-old daughter Sen used to be terrified of storms. But now, Sen learns about climate change at school, and feels confident she’d know what to do when disasters come.
Vai attends parenting groups where she receives information about early warning systems and evacuation points through the parenting groups.
And the family are active in their community when it comes to how to act quickly in the face of disaster.
That’s why, when Typhoon Doksuri came in 2017, the family was ready.
The early warning system the local school ran warned the family ahead of time, and Vai and her family evacuated to a local preschool, where they waited it out. Thanks to the village savings and loans club, Vai was able to replace the chickens and pigs that had been lost in the storm. And best of all, Sen felt safe and calm the whole time.
Will you help children like Sen survive and thrive in the face of climate change and disaster?
