This blog is written by Fariha Sarawat, Communications Manager for Save the Children UK in Bangladesh.

7 June 2009

"We can't even find the space to bury the dead. We have never seen so much water before," the stranded residents of Nolia village, on the southern coast of Bangladesh, informed us.

Whole villages have been lost to the flood. From the trawler that carried us to the interior of the delta, southwards towards Sutarkhali, all we could see was water.

Sutarkhali was about five hours away from Khulna city and among the worst-hit unions. It seemed the rivers had devoured everything that had stood in their paths.

The river embankments had collapsed, making it difficult to tell flood-water and river-water apart. In some places, you couldn't tell that a village, with the people, homes, schools, rice-fields, crops, children and their games had ever existed there because the river had submerged everything.

We could just see the thatched roofs of sunken houses in some places, looking as though they were floating. Lone school buildings stood tall in the middle of the waters looking forlorn. Since the storm hit, all of the schools have been shut.

WAITING FOR AID

The children here are suffering from diarrhoea and skin diseases because of the salinity of the flood water. Their playgrounds are submerged in water that is almost five feet high in some places.

They now spend their time on the remains of the embankment waiting for relief or at least a distraction from their struggles. Even my note-taking fascinated them. They have not had the chance to be near books or pencils in at least ten days.

I spoke to Laboni, a traumatised 11 year old whose entire family had to hold on to a tree for over four hours when the embankment collapsed and the flood gushed in, destroying all the things that of were of any value to her.

"All my school material is gone. I have no clothes but the ones I am wearing," she said with tears in her eyes. "Did you bring anything for us?" another villager interjected as I spoke to Laboni. I had to think before I answered. "We're surrounded by so much water, but we can't drink any of it," they told us, reminding me of the ancient mariner.

BRINGING HOPE

We hadn't brought food or medicines. We had come to see if they had a secure area where we could set up a child friendly safe place so that the children could return to some normalcy and there could be some stability and security in their lives. We engage the children in lessons and games, and provide meals for them so that at least their basic needs are taken care of even during this crisis period.

We told them that we had come to see and figure out how we could help them. When we were about to leave, we heard them tell each other that we had come to help their children. It was then that we realized that we had brought them hope.

When we were getting back on the trawler, the children lined up on the embankment and were jumping over each other for a chance to be photographed. At least we had brought the smiles on their faces.

6 June 2009

MONSOON COMING

The very first thing that strikes you about Koyra is the stench. The area is among the worst-affected regions that survived the onslaught of Cyclone Aila, which raged across the south-western coastal belt of Bangladesh on 25 May, propelling a 13 feet high tidal surge that destroyed the river embankments and flooded the nearby villages.

The flood water is expected to keep the entire region water-logged for months as the embankment repair is expected to be slowed down by the monsoon rains, which will also cause the water-level to rise further.

As we made our way to the areas where our EC funded Poverty and Working Children (PWC) project is taking place, we were overpowered by the acrid smell of crops, vegetation and livestock rotting in the saline water. The heat was sweltering and it was amplified by the water when we got on the small boat that ferried us across the flood water that had logged and destroyed the brick roads.

We came across lactating mothers who couldn't feed their babies adequate breast milk as they were not getting enough solid food for themselves. One mother, Taslima, told us that her breast milk is not enough to feed her ten-month old daughter Akhi. Taslima, like many other lactating mothers in Koyra have had to live on flattened rice and plain, steamed-rice since Aila.

The children from our PWC project have had to abandon their regular games as their schools had either been destroyed, flooded or are being used as shelters. The flood hadn't spared their playgrounds either.

I just hope that when I go back and start designing communication and advocacy plans I can use what I have learned about them thus far to help make a positive difference in the lives of these children.

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