It was raining when I was in Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital last week.  Everyone was worried as they listened to the beautiful Bengali song ‘Vaoaia’:

‘I was a rich man in the morning and a pauper at night …river give some mercy to me, do not break my small house, be kind to me river.
I had a beautiful smile in my family and you just snatched it away.
I am already a dead man how can you kill me again?’

The song reminds us of the suffering of the Bangladeshi people but also of their resilience, resourcefulness and creativity.

Resilience and Resourcefulness

I attended a meeting of the Nodi O Jibon project, a remarkable coalition of people and organisations, initiated by Concern to increase the attention to Char Region - the riverine landmasses in the North.

The meeting illustrated the tremendous challenges that Bangladeshis face. It also highlighted the remarkable commitment, energy and expertise they share.

Voluntary organisations, researchers, journalists, economists, young people, old people and business people were working together to find ways to improve the long term prospects of people living in the Chars, who face so much uncertainty. 

I had witnessed this earlier in the week when visiting the remarkable and beautiful floodplain in the Haor area in the northeast.  Five million people live half the year in these remote hills which for months become a flood plain accessible only by boat.

Villages of 20 or 30 homes huddle together often on islands no bigger than a football field.  The edges of these minute islands had only a few bamboo mats at the edges to protect them from the lapping waves.

Waters Rising

The waters were rising then; the islands were already engulfed with mud – a bit more rain and they would be overwhelmed.  Everything was wet, people could not husk their rice and their children were coughing.  This was before the latest torrential rains.

When I returned to Dhaka everyone was worried; everywhere the waters were rising. Two days before the water was starting to overwhelm the little corrugated iron shacks across the lake.  Now it was in their doors. Children were going to school, carrying books on their heads, women were wading in their saris through the filthy water and small children were up to their bellies in the brown murk.

Planning the emergency response

In the Concern office the emergency team mapped affected areas and discussed the latest news from our partners.  It was looking bad. Flood alerts were at danger level and immediate help was needed.

Kieron Crawley, Concern’s Country Director and his team authorised the necessary expenditure for rescue boats, food and water.  £20,000 was needed immediately but I knew then that much more would be needed.  This was only the beginning.

Later in the boat I looked back at the precarious little group of straw houses huddled together, the water lapping at their doors - everyone was still waving and smiling.