KUCHING, Malaysia – Malaysian secondary school students joined Pacific Partnership 2019 participants for an Emergency Preparedness Camp at the Sarawak State Library, April 6.
The program uses humanitarian assistance and disaster relief information as a platform for students to enhance their English language and survival skills.
“We teach emergency preparedness using English as a vehicle to help them understand the importance of being prepared,” said U.S. Air National Guard Maj. Chyteira Deus, the event coordinator. “The main goal is to make sure that they have a basic understanding of how they can be self-reliant in the event of an emergency.”
This year marks the first time Pacific Partnership has been involved in the camp. PP19 participants used exercises and visual aids to demonstrate the importance of clear communication and what tools are necessary to preserve life in a crisis.
“To be able to show them how certain items in the emergency kit work was one of the most rewarding things,” said Religious Programs Specialist 2nd Class Jason Hunt. “I enjoyed watching the expression of understanding come across their faces as we demonstrated.”
Learning side-by-side builds trust and overall understanding in order to effectively respond to natural disasters.
“We want to continue to create engagements between us and Malaysians to better understand each other and to promote English literacy,” said Deus.
Pacific Partnership, now in its 14th iteration, is the largest annual multinational humanitarian assistance and disaster relief preparedness mission conducted in the Indo-Pacific. Each year, the mission team works collectively with host and partner nations to enhance regional interoperability and disaster response capabilities, increase stability and security in the region, and foster new and enduring friendships across the Indo-Pacific.