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The Red Cross is
helping thousands of Bangladesh families rebuild their homes after they were destroyed in the recent cyclone.Manboru Bibi, who is in her 80s, can't walk very well but managed to get to a
nearby Red Crescent cyclone shelter, which saved her life. When she came back to her village in Patharghata District, she found that the wall of water triggered by the cyclone had washed away her
home.Standing outside her makeshift house on the banks of the Baleshwar River, Manboru said: "I have no relatives to take care of me so I had to rebuild this myself. Everyone else in my
village has lost their home and belongings too, so no one is able to help each other as we would normally do."People need to have a house that is potentially moveable due to the shifting flood
planes of Bangladesh.Lois Austin, British Red CrossRecent figures estimate that around 365,000 houses were destroyed, with an estimated 5.5 million people affected by Cyclone Sidr. The
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies plans to distribute building materials to 5,000 of the most vulnerable families in the region.Items including plastic sheeting, bamboo, tool kits and corrugated iron sheets will be distributed along with training to encourage people to rebuild their own homes.Helping most
vulnerable in BangladeshAs well as providing the materials, the Red Cross is also working with local communities to train people so they have the skills to safely rebuild their homes, many
of which have been completely flattened. Due to the ever-changing landscape in Bangladesh many people have to move their homes regularly, and so items such as corrugated iron sheets are useful
as they can be taken off and reused.Lois Austin, British Red Cross relief operations manager, explained: "People in the affected regions need to have a house that is potentially moveable due
to the shifting flood planes of Bangladesh. So unlike with the tsunami for instance, where the rebuilding took the form of concrete homes, in Bangladesh it is much more appropriate to provide items
like corrugated iron sheets and bamboo." Read the information sheet on the Bangladesh cycloneDonate to the Bangladesh Cyclone Appeal
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
Stranded train passengers wait at the Guangzhou railway station, Guangdong province January 30, 2008. Millions of Chinese shivered through power cuts and water shortages on Wednesday and millions more were stranded ...
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