Envisioning our Future - Risk or Resilience?

 

A Perfectly Good Evening..the view from Bali, May 31, 2014

 A gorgeous view: grand expanse of a sunset arching over the infamous surf... rich conversation on how our future child focussed DRR model will be...defining the boundaries of the conversation...day 1 of our national DRR consultation starts very well.

 

This serene scene is punctuated by the news of 'a sustained, rather significant eruption of Sangean Api' in the south, 'sending large volumes of volcanic ash into the air', grounding scores of flights... and looming over tomorrow's field research site -Sumba. So, our tomorrow now looks more like this...quite a different picture than when we started some hours ago. (Image thanks-Dr. Roy Spencer)

Off we go hunting face masks which I hope will be adequate for my friend who has asthma. This is the way of the future! The future is now! In my day, disasters become the norm, not the anomale. And how do we cope? Are we risk and resilience minded? Is this thinking intrinsic in our daily lives, and way of doing business? Or do they take us by surprise, stealing from a perfectly good evening with friends at the beach, darkening a perfect sunset with elegant yet potentially deadly ash plumes?  Or much worse, erasing years of memory, hopes, dreams of a bright future. These are our questions. These are our children's questions.  Over the next week , we will listen closely to voices of ChildFund staff, partners and children and youth of Boyalali, Yog Yakarta, Sumba and Jakarta...and we will share our learning journey with you.