DISASTER RESPONSE

I have always been keen on working for marginalised people and I try to never miss on opportunities which can enhance my skillsets in the direction. A couple of days back I registered myself to be a part of the Disaster Management Unit(DMU) emergency roster team.

Once I registered myself, I received an email from DMU regarding participation in a 5-day Capacity Building Training on Emergency Response to be held in Bahraich district, in Uttar Pradesh. This was my first exposure of how the emergency response team worked. In the first three days, we were given proper training on handling disaster situations. We were told about the dos and don’ts and trained on the steps and approach to take during a disaster.

On the 4th day of the training, the trainees were divided into two teams. I was a part of the team which was deployed at Village Tikuri, which was the most flood-affected regions in Bahraich. When I saw the intensity of the floods in the area, I was shocked. As a part of the training, we now initiated groundwork. The first step was to identify the beneficiaries. As a part of this, we were reaching out to the most affected and vulnerable community of the village. We interacted with household members, community members, community leaders and volunteers and then finalised the list of the beneficiaries. After the assessment was over the registration and relief distribution process started. I thoroughly enjoyed the relief distribution process.

As the beneficiaries got the relief material, it brought a big smile on their faces. The feeling of contentment and security that I saw on their faces after receiving the relief material gave me immense satisfaction and happiness. Looking at their faces and their thankfulness towards the team, encouraged me to continue with the assignment.

I am very thankful to the trainers and extremely proud to be a part of the CARE fraternity and Emergency roster team.

Neeraj Kapoor (Neeru), Program Assistant, Girls Education Program