Mohammad dreams of building disaster-resilient communities

Mohammad dreams of developing disaster-resilient communities. Following this interest, he began his search for a Higher Degree by Research and was granted an Australia Awards Scholarship. His research could make a big impact on small islands threatened by a host of natural disasters in Indonesia.

When it came to choosing a university, Charles Darwin University instantly stood out. They have lecturers who are experts in disaster management and conduct research in several parts of Indonesia.

The decision for Mohammad was clear, so he enrolled in the Disaster Management Research Program at CDU.

The university experience

Mohammad takes pride in knowing that CDU values and respects the Indigenous community. It reminds him of his home town.

It’s a pleasure to work with this university because all staff members are friendly, efficient and perform their duties quickly and accurately.

Mohammad is grateful that studying at CDU has allowed him to improve in other areas such as academic writing, communication skills, literature study and software application.

"CDU provides many opportunities for its students to learn, gain experience, and develop their personal skills through the various facilities it offers," he says.

He advises students to take advantage of all available facilities, attend all training, workshops, and conferences and maintain communication with all lecturers and staff.

Disaster management at CDU

Mohammad is excited to be a part of a program where his lecturers are published and internationally acclaimed.

Professor Dianne Stephens, the Dean of the School of Medicine at CDU, is a great example of this.

She received the Medal of the Order of Australia for her outstanding leadership role in the ICU management of the 20 critically ill Bali bombing victims in 2002.

“It’s a little-known secret that Darwin is the centre of health emergency response in Australia, we have the NCCTRC has been in Darwin, and that was no accident,” Professor Stephens said to the NT News,

“We are here because we provided the largest aeromedical retrieval response to the Bali bombings, back in 2002 and since then we have built and grown the NCCTRC to be not only a national health emergency response centre, but an international globally recognised Centre of Excellence.”

Stephens has played a big role in the development of emergency and disaster management courses at CDU.

Life-changing research

Mohammad’s research focuses on the vulnerability assessment of small islands in North Maluku Province, which are threatened by tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, coastal abrasion and landslides.

A large part of his research is also spent looking at the resilience level of the community and local government. This is the most important aspect of disaster risk reduction.

The impacts of this research will make it easier for all stakeholders both the government and the community to take action on disaster risk reduction.

“The result maps can be used by the government in detailed urban planning, while the community can easily understand areas that are vulnerable and safe from disasters and can plan evacuation routes before a disaster," he explains.

Mohammed is keen to share his HDR knowledge and expertise, using the skills learnt at CDU to teach other students. 

"I will continue disaster investigation and community service to help build a disaster-resistant community in Indonesia."

Want to be part of an industry that's helping people in need across the world? Study a course in Humanitarian, Emergency and Disaster Management at CDU. Explore courses.