Wednesday, April 16, 2008

SRI LANKA: Snakes and Ladders

from IRIN

Disaster management experts in Sri Lanka have found a novel use for the snakes and ladders board game - training children in disaster mitigation. The snakes represent disasters while the ladders are mitigation methods. When a player gets to a snake he slides down on the board but when he reaches a ladder he moves up.

The game forms part of a disaster awareness programme conducted at schools in 16 districts around the country by the Sri Lankan Disaster Management Centre, part of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights, and the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

"Children are aware of disasters," UNDP field coordinator for the programme, Zihan Zarouk, told IRIN, "but they have limited knowledge of how to face them or their aftermath."

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