Meeting Sabita

Kate Crowley, our Disaster Risk Reduction Adviser, writes:

I recently visited Bangladesh to assess the work that we’re doing with Caritas Bangladesh and three other local organisations: together, we’re helping more than 7,500 vulnerable families to earn more money and cope better with future disasters.

I was delighted to visit Kainmari, and to meet Sabita. She explained how Caritas Bangladesh have provided training in “Disaster Risk Reduction”, for example by helping her and others to raise their vegetable plots to stop them being washed away by floods. She showed me her own plot, which was raised about a metre above the ground.

Profulla: more competition for my shop

My grocery shop is doing okay, but it is more competitive these days as there are two other shops stocking similar items. Rice and dhal are the main items that I sell, but there is less demand now. I am trying to stock other products, such as sweets, toiletries and seasonal vegetables – but it’s getting harder to make money because of the competition. During the recent Durga Puja festival, I wanted to buy new clothes for my family, but I couldn’t afford any.

My ducks, which provide an extra source of income, are doing well at the moment, although one of them died due to a motorbike accident and three others died because of the cold during the heavy rain. But the good thing is that there are plenty of snails around during the rainy season, so we don’t have to pay for duck feed. It’s harder to make a profit in the dry season because of the cost of buying feed.

My daughter is at school. Her favourite subjects are maths and English, and she wants to be a doctor when she’s older. In some other districts, schools were flooded by the heavy rain. Luckily, my daughter’s school wasn’t affected, so I’m pleased to say she could continue her studies without interruption.

Crops damaged, fish washed away

Good news from Pobitra

We’ve now heard from our friends in Kainmari, and we’re delighted to say that they’re all safe after the recent floods. But two weeks of heavy rain caused prolonged flooding, which severely damaged ponds, duck houses and crops.

There’s good news from Pobitra. He managed to protect his shrimp farm by building a mud embankment all the way around it. This was a direct result of training he received from Caritas Bangladesh, and it’s heartening to see that a simple idea massively reduced the impact of extreme weather.

Sadly, most of Sabita’s shrimp, carp and lobsters were washed away when her pond overflowed. She says: “My husband tied a net around the pond to protect the fish – but nylon nets are expensive, and we couldn’t afford to protect the whole pond.” Her vegetable garden was also damaged, and three of her ducks were killed.

Bijoli’s pond wasn’t submerged, but heavy rain flushed contaminated water into the pond, which unfortunately killed most of her prawns, lobsters and carp.

Profulla’s kitchen was damaged, so he and his wife built a temporary oven to cook with. The road directly in front of his shop was also underwater for a few days. Luckily, his duck house wasn’t hit.

The floods have now receded in Kainmari, and our friends are slowly picking up the pieces. Meanwhile Caritas Bangladesh have been responding in nearby areas that were even worse hit by the floods, providing food and other basic necessities to people who were forced to leave their homes.

Floods hit Bangladesh

We’re sorry to report that heavy monsoon rains have caused several major rivers in Bangladesh to burst their banks, affecting more than 1.5 million people.

With houses, roads and farms damaged across wide areas, hundreds of thousands of people are in need of food, water, shelter and clean drinking water.

We know that flooding has hit the area around Kainmari, and we’re waiting to hear how our friends have been affected, and what we can do to help.

Paula says: “There is some form of localised flooding every year in Bangladesh as there are more than 200 rivers, but this flood is worse than usual. In some places, there have been 22 days of non-stop rain.

A new arrival in Kainmari

We’re delighted to announce that Pobitra and his wife Mollika have had a baby boy!

The baby, who was born at home on 1^st May, is the couple’s first child, after five years of marriage. A thrilled Pobitra describes him as “a gift from God”. Both mother and baby are happy and in good health.

Please join us in wishing Kainmari’s newest arrival a long and happy life!

Cyclone Aila: two years on

Augustine from Caritas Bangladesh writes:

Cyclone Aila hit the southwestern coast of Bangladesh exactly two years ago, on 25 May 2009. It washed away several thousand homes as well as fields and crops, and it damaged shrimp farms. In total it caused 200 deaths. People called Cyclone Aila a silent killer because the salty water it left behind is still damaging farm-land.

Sabita: my son, the university student

Sabita writes:

My 19-year-old son Partha is the first person in my family to go to university. He’s studying for a BA at Mongla College, which is part of the National University. He’s just taken his first year exams, but the results haven’t yet been published. I really hope he passes.

Partha has been lucky, because he went to St Paul’s school. We had to pay the school fees, which were expensive – about 100 taka [£10] per month. It was difficult, particularly as my husband’s been too ill to work since Partha was 8-years-old.

But despite the difficulties, we somehow managed to pay Partha’s school fees. And now he’s paying for his own education. He taught evening classes for a while at the World Vision school, but at the moment he’s working as a mechanic at a mobile phone shop. Most of Partha’s friends at college are also poor. They can only continue studying with great hardship.

Happy Bengali New Year 1418!

Yesterday was নববর্ষ Nôbobôrsho – the first day of the Bengali calendar, and a national holiday in Bangladesh.

Atul from Caritas Bangladesh told us: “At the moment there’s a hailstorm. It’s a magnificent cool shower after a day of boiling heat. It’s as if nature is taking a refreshing bath.” It sounds like the perfect way to start the year.

We wish all our friends in Kainmari and CAFOD partners a very happy and prosperous year ahead. Suvo Nababarsha!

Bangladesh goes cricket crazy

Boys playing cricket in Kainmari

Paula writes:

I’ve been in Bangladesh for the last few weeks, and the whole country has gone cricket crazy! Bangladesh is one of the hosts of the Cricket World Cup, and everyone I spoke to was incredibly proud and excited about how the tournament was going.

All our friends at Caritas Bangladesh were thrilled when Bangladesh beat England in a nerve-wracking match, and desperately disappointed when their team was eventually knocked out.

“We’re sorry we lost the game,” says Atul from Caritas Bangladesh, “And it seems that the whole of Bangladesh has been jolted with the loss. Anyway, a game is a game. We’re looking forward to seeing who wins the cup!”

Burglars spoil festival for Bijoli

Bijoli praying in her house

Paula writes:

It’s hard to think of anything worse than waking up to find your home’s been broken into. It’s not just the value of what’s been stolen that matters – it’s the thought that robbers have snuck in and rooted through your most personal possessions while you’ve been asleep.

In my role as CAFOD’s Programme Officer for Bangladesh, I often visit projects we support in villages like Kainmari. On my last trip there, I was sad to learn that Bijoli and her family had been burgled in the night. To make matters worse, the crime took place during the festival of Durja Puja, which should have been the happiest time of the year – it’s the equivalent of Christmas for Bangladeshi Hindus.