From the Cyclone Idai disaster to the COVID-19 pandemic: An account of inadvertent social capital enhancement in Eastern Chimanimani, Zimbabwe

Disasters and the education system: Cyclone Idai and schooling disruption in eastern Chimanimani, Zimbabwe

This article examined how the education system was impacted by the Cyclone ldai disaster in eastern Chimanimani District in 2019. In addition, this article discoursed the enrolment trends, pass rate patterns and general quality of education over the 2018-2019 study period. It assessed local and stakeholders' initiatives towards building a disaster-resilient education system. A mixed-methods approach integrated both quantitative and qualitative techniques to obtain in-depth narratives of lived experiences and quantitative aspects. A chi-square test provided sufficient ground to conclude that there were significant dropout patterns at a 95% confidence level. A paired t-test for the years 2018 (M = 64.59; SD = 12.61) and 2019 (M = 62; SD = 15.32) showed no significant difference (t [11] = 0.817, p = 0.432) at a 95% confidence interval. Concerted efforts are needed to avert the native pattern of school enrolment and academic results reflected in the study.

Contribution

We therefore recommend that a holistic integrative disaster resilience framework between school, community and stakeholders showed great potential for the future.

Handling natural hazards in Indonesia amid the COVID-19 pandemic: Muhammadiyah’s response and strategy

Indonesia is prone to natural hazards, which have continued to occur even during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Therefore, this study explored the response and strategy employed by Muhammadiyah, one of Indonesia’s moderate Islamic organisations, in dealing with natural hazards during this pandemic. A qualitative descriptive method was used in this study, and the data collection procedure involved finding related literature, reports, and decrees. Online interviews were also conducted with the Muhammadiyah Disaster Management Center (MDMC) administration to strengthen the data. Subsequently, this study discovered that Muhammadiyah responded by aiding victims of natural hazards, which occurred in various regions in Indonesia during the COVID-19 pandemic. The strategies employed comprise Muhammadiyah COVID-19 Command Center (MCCC) to handle COVID-19, alongside essential recommendations to the MDMC network throughout Indonesia and the various arms of the government for dealing with natural hazards during the pandemic. Also, it showed commitment to handling these hazards by establishing a standard operating procedure for Muhammadiyah volunteers and represented Indonesia during a presentation at the World Health Organization.