High school students from Otsuchi Town, Iwate Prefecture, which was affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake, visited Aceh Province, Indonesia, the hardest affected area by the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, and held an exchange meeting to share their experiences of disaster prevention.
In Aceh Province in the northwestern part of Sumatra, Indonesia, more than 2004,16 people were killed in the Indian Ocean tsunami that occurred in 12, and exchanges with local governments in the Tohoku region affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake continue.
On December 26, before the 19th anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami, four students from Otsuchi High School in Iwate Prefecture visited Banda Aceh, the provincial capital, and participated in an exchange meeting held at a local junior high school on December 4.
The students explained that since the Great East Japan Earthquake, they have been promoting disaster prevention and mitigation efforts, such as conducting evacuation center operation drills.
In addition, quizzes about tsunamis were held, such as "Is it possible to run away from a tsunami?", and local students enjoyed learning about disaster prevention.
Fourteen-year-old Al-Faki, who participated in the event, said, "I was happy to meet my friends from Japan, and I was able to learn how to prevent tsunami damage and what to do in the event of a disaster."
Kosuke Kikuchi, a second-year student at Otsuchi High School, said, "I'm glad that I was able to learn about what the people of Aceh have experienced, and I think that we can pass on the tradition better by continuously exchanging lessons with each other, not just one exchange."