Long-term Resilience Building in Dominica

The impact of COVID-19 is felt everywhere, but in Dominica, we have continued our work with the Ministry of Education to ensure that our youngest beneficiaries still have plenty to keep them occupied.

"Despite the need for physical distancing during this time, we wanted to offer support to parents, caregivers, and most importantly young children. Instead of our regular interventions, we decided to engage with children virtually through interactive, tailored to context, recreational activities online. Along with the virtual activities, over 300 children on the eastern side of Dominica received a physical recreation kit with DIY arts and crafts materials, as well as an activity book, and a toolkit of suggested tips for parents relevant to this emergency" - IsraAID Country Director, Dana Yaari. 

The team has created recreation kits for distribution to children in the community, which allows the children to still have access to education and mental health resources, even if we cannot meet face-to-face. In the kits are activity books for the children - with any specific supplies required for the arts and crafts activities - as well as a COVID-19 toolkit for parents, which aims to support parents during this challenging time. It's important that the children are able to keep their brain active and continue their education, and it is equally important that their parents are in a position where they are able to support their children. The toolkit for parents provides information regarding the virus, as well as different strategies for managing their children's education and dealing with this intense time for the family. 

We have also started a Virtual Recreation Room - My Virtual Buddies and I - where IsraAID staff have been running different sessions for some of IsraAID's youngest beneficiaries. The platform is aimed at children aged 3-5, and allows them to interact with the local presenters - the virtual buddies - who provide stimulating activities for the children to engage with from their home. This is done through pre-recorded sessions that may be stories, songs, or arts and crafts activities. 

Below are some of the activities that we have already shared:

• Dernel started the activity with a song, introducing herself to the audience, and then told an exciting story about a spider and a tiger with lots of animation
• Becca introduced herself as a friend to the children and ran a fun activity on how to make a Bottle Shack Shack, a fun and easy-to-make musical instrument that can be made with items found around the home or garden. She then sang 'Wheels on the Bus', using a different shack shacks for different parts of the song.
• Dernel showed the children how to make puppets out of paper bags or cardboard boxes that they might already have at home. This was in anticipation of a future puppet show that will be in the Virtual Recreation Room.

There has been a lot of engagement all over the country, with teachers and parents sending videos of their children engagement, painting, and creating! 

Thank you for your continued support of IsraAID.  

Since IsraAID arrived in Dominica in 2017 following Hurricane Maria, the team on the ground has shifted from emergency response, to recovery, and now toward long-term sustainable development programming. During the final quarter of 2019, the IsraAID team continued to work in three main sectors of programming: Livelihood development through youth engagement, Child Protection, and Disaster Risk Reduction in Education.

Our appreoach to Disaster Risk Reduction in Education prioritizes community involvement in creating and implementing plans for emergency situations. Because schools in many ways represent the core of community, schools are the ideal place to root this work in partnership with local authorities, parents, teachers, and other caregivers.

As such, IsraAID Dominica is working toward completing the development of contingency plans in schools across the island. Toward this goal, during the final quarter of 2019, another 9 schools completed their School Safety Project, bringing the total up to 58; additional schools will receive funding to complete their assessments in 2020.

In December, a simulated national drill was led by the IsraAID team to work through two potential scenarios: a tsunami warning and a hurricane. 17 staff members from the Ministry of Education’s Emergency Response Team, as well as representatives from the Office of Disaster Management and CREAD attended and participated.

The “Education in Emergency: Contingency Plan” curriculum was developed and completed with the Ministry of Education, UNICEF, the Office of Disaster Management, as well as representatives from the early childhood and accessible educational fields. The contingency plan includes a situation analysis, reports on capacity building workshops, and a full contingency plan with recommendations, should a future disaster strike. Check out pictures of the report, below!

With these important steps, communities on Dominica will be better prepared should another hurricane or other disaster hit the island.

Thank you for your support of this program!