UNESCO Office Jakarta supported the 10th Commemoration of Aceh Tsunami by donating tsunami education and preparedness materials at the Aceh Tsunami Museum (ATM) and the Stranded Electrical Generator Boat (PLTD-1) Museum. In addition, along with other four UN agencies UNESCO opened an exhibition booth at the Global Disaster Expo organized by the Provincial Government of Aceh on 25-28 December 2014 in Banda Aceh, Indonesia.
The tsunami education and preparedness materials donated to the museum are in the form of 10 exhibition panels containing strategies to survive a tsunami based on real experience of 2004 tsunami victims. These strategies were taken from the UNESCO IOC Booklet: Where the first wave arrives in minutes. In addition to these exhibition panels, UNESCO also contributed 4 video clips of 2-3 minutes each titled: Tsunami Preparedness; Tsunami Early Warning System; Tsunami evacuation; and Surviving a tsunami.
This donation was a collaborative effort coordinated by the Indian Ocean Tsunami Information Centre (IOTIC) of UNESCO IOC in UNESCO Office Jakarta, supported by the Geology Museum of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS and SONY CORPORATION. These two private sectors each supported 8 LCD televisions to be placed at the two museums as permanent display of the video clips in the museum.
At the Global Disaster Expo, UNESCO also displayed the video clips as well as handing out education, information and communication materials on tsunami science, and tsunami preparedness education. The 10th commemoration of Indian Ocean special edition book of “The Coastal Dynamic after the Sumatra Earthquakes and Tsunamis” of BPDP research centre that was published by UNESCO in cooperation with Australian Aid was also shared in the exhibition.
The commemoration event was officially opened by the Vice President, Drs H. Muhammad Jusuf Kalla. The Vice President visited the UNESCO’s booth during the expo and went for a round of tour at the Tsunami Museum and watches the tsunami education animation videos and received explanation on the content of the tsunami museum. Before leaving the museum the Vice President wrote and signed his impression remark for the museum education content “Tsunami 2004 reminded us the importance of knowledge and education, the importance of community preparedness, and the importance of national and international solidarity. May this museum give valuable lessons to all of us and our grandchildren”.
