More than 5,000 children learnt emergency evacuation procedures through a puppet show during a month-long disaster mitigation campaign organized by World Vision in 18 schools in quake-ravaged Siren valley, Northern Pakistan.

The campaign aimed to build the capacity of children to respond to disasters, as some 20,000 children were killed in the October 2005 earthquake that devastated areas of Northern Pakistan and the adjoining Kashmir valley.

'We learnt a lot about how to face any emergency situation – whether it's an earthquake or other natural disaster - through this puppet show,' said 10-year-old Shumaila Bibi, a fifth grade student from Chela Bagh village.


Puppets took on the characters of family members to train the children in emergency evacuation procedures during earthquakes, landslides, flashfloods and electrical storms.

'This was a well-organized activity and a very effective way to teach emergency response procedures to the children, who had a lot of fun learning,' said Ghulam Nabbi, Head Teacher of Boys Middle School Jabouri.

'This training had a huge impact on these children, who are still psychologically traumatized from the 2005 earthquake. The puppet show entertained the children while it addressed a subject – earthquakes – that is still very real and sensitive. Through the interactive entertainment, the children learned how to positively respond to any kind of disaster,'' said Kamran Khan, World Vision Pakistan Emergency Response Disaster Mitigation (ERDM) Project Coordinator.

The puppet show was organized by World Vision's ERDM project, in collaboration with Maqsad, a Lahore-based organisation expert in puppetry. The ERDM project aims to empower children to fully participate in community-based disaster management, reducing vulnerability and increasing resilience in earthquake-affected areas of North West Frontier Province.

The disaster mitigation campaign, held 27 November - 16 December, also included trainings on emergencies for adult community members.