United Nations officials, presidents of local universities, leaders of nongovernmental organisations, and scholars from around the world attended the event to discuss with student participants the impacts of disasters on the environment as well as on the physical and mental health of affected populations. Dr Brian Hall was invited to give a speech on disasters’ impacts on the mental health of surviving victims and evidence-based intervention strategies.
Besides
attending the conference, UM student Wu Yan also spent two weeks living with a
family in a small fishing village in Suyac Island, where she worked with 18 other
international students and four faculty members to build homes for these
survivors of Typhoon Yolanda. She also conducted an assessment of community
needs in collaboration with public health students from the Chinese University
of Hong Kong, and later organized a workshop, which gave the women in the
village an opportunity to talk about their feelings about the tragic events of
the disaster. The team of local villagers led by Yan promised to organise
similar workshops for those women who were unable to attend the session.
Should you have any inquiries about the press release, please feel free to contact Ms. Albee Lei and Ms. Kristy Fok at（853）8822 8004prs.media@um.edu.mo or visit UM webpage www.umac.mo.
