Trocaire Humanitarian officer Catilin Brady, reports on the reconstruction effort in Bangladesh following the Sidr cyclone that hit the country last November.

Walking along a raised dirt "road" little larger than an Irish footpath, I'm reminded that sometimes, in this line of work, we have to reexamine our definition of what's what. Welcome to Morrelgonj, a "small" rural town in southwest Bangladesh of some 375,000 people, which was badly hit by cyclone Sidr. I'm surrounded by rice patties and small houses, many of which resemble a garden shed. Approximately 21,000 homes were destroyed in this town—just over 1 in 4, and many remain in limbo, trying to make do with the materials they can collect to construct a shelter. While estimates of houses destroyed total in the hundreds of thousands, commitments to reconstruction from the international community have been small, amounting to only 69,000 houses.

The emergency cash for work program I'm visiting has employed a hundred community members in this village of Gabkhola for 15 days each. Many of the beneficiaries here are women, some, are widows. Traditionally women would not work in this majority Muslim society, but sometimes they have to. Minara has two daughters and lost her husband some years back. When cyclone Sidr struck, her house was destroyed, and many of the family's belongings destroyed or washed away. She has worked as a maid locally, but since Sidr the family she worked for has not been able to employ her. She received 15 kgs of rice through a government program for vulnerable families, as well as a 10 day ration of rice, lentils, salt and oil from Uttaran, a Trocaire partner. She also received a package of household items including clothes, water jugs, pots and plates, utensils, and etc, from Uttaran. She spends the money she earns in the cash for work program on rice and school fees. She worries what she will do in the coming months, as it's unlikely she'll get her cleaning job back anytime soon.nlikely she'll get her cleaning job back anytime soon.

In another country, Minara might struggle to pay the phone bill, struggle to give her girls pocket money for new clothes, but here in Bangladesh, she struggles to survive. Of the 30 women who I meet with, almost all have reduced their consumption of food, since Sidr, from 3 meals per day to 2, and the World Food Program reports concerns about growing malnutrition.

At an altogether different meeting, I speak to the leaders of local Disaster Management Committees. Trocaire has supported Caritas to form and train these committees, and they come today to discuss their successes and failures in the run up to and aftermath of Sidr. The group is dynamic, proud, and concerned. While thousands of lives were saved through evacuation to cyclone shelters, some didn't believe anything would happen, and didn't evacuate. We discuss ways they can reduce risks to their lives and properties, but there are no easy answers. Caritas will continue to facilitate these committees to decide how best to prepare for disasters, and will support mitigation projects such as the construction of more cyclone shelters, evacuation routes, and safe water sources.

Trocaire and international donors have mobilised significant funds for the immediate response, but funds for the reconstruction are scarce. Implementing agencies are finding it difficult to find donor funds for housing construction, or ongoing income generation projects. Bangladeshis are hopeful that they can work towards reducing their risks from cyclones and floods, but in the meantime, they'd like a roof over their heads.