ABSTRACT
This chapter presents results from a 5-month-long study conducted in Los Planes de La Laguna, a community impacted by the 2005 eruption of Santa Ana volcano and Tropical Storm Stan in western El Salvador. This research investigated locals' perceptions of a non-governmental organization (NGO) dedicated to reducing vulnerability to volcanic hazards. Educational campaigns were run in three local schools to open dialogue about volcanic hazards and incorporate hazard information within school curriculums. The Servicio de Mitigacin de Desastres (SMD), a Salvadoran NGO working on disaster preparedness and hazard mitigation in the country since the early 1990s, initiated training programmes and reconstruction efforts in three small communities impacted by the crisis Los Planes de La Laguna, San Juan Las Minas and Santo Domingo. In their assessment of NGO involvement with natural disasters in several countries, Rocha and Cristoplos indicate that participatory work tends to occur only on the technical side' where efforts are concentrated on the design of local plans.
