The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) and the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre (UWI SRC) firmly believe that teachers play an important role in creating a culture of safety and resilience. It is for this reason that the ODPM and the UWI SRC asked Geography/Social Science Teachers from secondary schools across the country, to sacrifice their Saturday to attend a Workshop to learn more about earthquakes and tsunamis. This Ministry of Education approved workshop, was held at the Rudranath Capildeo Learning Resource Centre, Couva and focused on enhancing the knowledge that some teachers already possess about earthquakes and tsunamis while emphasising local scenarios and best practices to adopt based on our physical environment.

In light of the devastating earthquake that we have seen in New Zealand and the earthquake triggered tsunami in Japan, we as a small island developing state that is vulnerable to a multitude of hazards, must take our risk management seriously. This project, in addition to others which occurred in the month of March, are part of our continued efforts to build a culture of safety and resilience by adopting a comprehensive approach to disaster management.