(The following story is a reprint from Daily Star)
For some 6 million flood-hit victims facing severe food shortage in 47 districts of the country, food relief is essential.
In the northern rice producing districts, hit by flood for the past three weeks, the demand for food is high and will last for at least two months after the floodwaters recede, especially in areas near the Jamuna river.
Here, at Taras upazilla of Sirajganj district, nearly 4 lakh people who rely on farming as their major source of livelihood could only eat once a day due to loss of work. Most of the population here are farm workers, earning Taka 80 to 90 per day, and not going to work means no pay and no Taka. This means hunger and further suffering for family members.
Rehka Boshak, an Adivashi here at Taras, said her family ate once a day for the past month when the floods submerged her village knee-deep. Because her husband was not able to go to work for a month, they had to take loan from micro-credit organizations in order to get by. And until now, they are still repaying the loan.
"With the relief food that we have received, we could at least save a little money and be able to pay back what we have borrowed," she said.
Farm-worker adivashis
Rekha's is one among 550 Adivashi families who were given relief goods consisting of 5 kg rice, 2 kg potato, ½ kg dal, 1 kg salt, and saline packets for each family by Bangladesh Adivasi Ohdikar Andolon (Baoa) and Volunteer Service Overseas- Bangladesh (VSOB) on September 3.
The Taka3.3 lakh relief fund was sourced from donors as advertised through a website designed by VSOB volunteer Mikey Leung, amounting to Canadian $3,450, £ 500 from VSO Trusty Board-UK, Taka 11,000 from Dinajpur-based Gram Bikash Kendro (GBK), and the rest from Baoa-Regional Development Center. GBK is a programme partner of VSOB's indigenous community rights programme.
In Desigram union of Taras, relief work was done in partnership with Taras-based Adivashi Academy, an organizational partner of Baoa. Jogen Toppo of the management committee of Adivashi Academy said that they based their identification of beneficiaries on the state of severity of flood in the community, landlessness of the household, and the elderly and widowed.
With limited relief goods, beneficiaries were selected from adivashi residents coming from 50 villages/grams located in 8 unions of Desigram, Mathanugor, Taras Proper, Talong, Barobash, Naoga and Magwabirod.
At least 30,000 adivashis including Mahato, Orao, Singh, Maldi and Boshak, live in the borderlines between Sirajganj and neighbouring Bogra. The majority of them are day labourers, and relies on farming as their source of livelihood.
Read more in Daily Star
Showing posts with label Relief Work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Relief Work. Show all posts
Friday, November 14, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Blankets and poverty
(The following article is a reprint from Daily Star.)
Poverty talks about cold facts and the cold wave is one to reckon with.
Nearly a hundred thousand blankets (1 lakh) were estimated handed out to cold-hit victims all over the country by well-meaning organizations and commercial firms. Private companies can only serve limitedly and millions more living below the poverty line are in need of blankets and winter clothes to fight the cold.
This cry for blankets just speaks of one thing -- Poverty. It speaks of people who are unable to buy the basic needs in order to survive during such recurring climatic change.
This leaves the government to consider what responsive programs it can do to curb cold-related deaths and sicknesses, directly and in its long-term poverty alleviation programs since its 140 million people where an estimated 50% live below the poverty line.
Similarly, the cold wave sends a message to organizations as well to come up with disaster management plans and relief missions to be done earlier to avert preventable deaths and diseases such as those aggravated by the cold.
The cold wave which registered its lowest at 6.5 Celsius has hit hundreds of people in the country especially in the north. It is a recurring phenomenon year after year. And annually, people, especially young children and the elderly are most struck with this climatic change. Reports say that already nearly 200 persons died of cold-related causes while hundreds are being admitted in hospitals due to cold-linked illness.
Health complexes are filled with victims of the cold wave especially children with respiratory related diseases such as pneumonia while the elderly are mostly hit by hypertension and heart diseases.
Here in Rajshahi Medical Hospital, The Daily Star reports say that more than 300 patients are undergoing treatment and the number of admission exceeded last 3 year's records. The situation is getting worse as more patients from the northern districts are arriving for their admission.
Organizations, it has been noted, have conducted their own relief missions for their own beneficiaries while other commercial firms have responded in wider scale to this call for blankets and winter clothes.
Dutch Bangla Bank Limited distributed 20,000 blankets to those struggling with the cold in the northern districts of Panchagarch,Thakurgaon, Dinajpur, Lalmonirhat, Kurigram, Nilphamari, Gaibanda, Joypurhat, Bogra and Sirajjanj. Grameen Phone also recently distributed winter clothes and blankets to indigent people of Kamrangir Char in Dhaka.
The NGOs could only respond with whatever resources they have for their respective beneficiaries. And NGOs, which could only rely on support from donors, could only provide based on programmed systems leaving a lot more people needing help.
In their limited capacities, some non- government organizations like Kakonhat upazila based Adibahi Sangkrutik Unnayan Sangstha (ASUS) and Rajshahi-based Adivasi Unnayan Songstha (AUS) also very recently distributed blankets and clothes for their beneficiaries who are mostly Adivasis living in Kakonhat, Godagari and Tanore upazillas.
While relief is not a programmed activity of said Adivasi- based NGOs, AUS for one went to seek the support of neighbors, relatives and friends. Staff of Dhaka-based Volunteer Service Overseas (VSO) donated cash to AUS and this utilized on blankets distributed last January 17 to AUS' Adivasi- beneficiaries in Tanore upazilla.
Read more in Daily Star
Poverty talks about cold facts and the cold wave is one to reckon with.
Nearly a hundred thousand blankets (1 lakh) were estimated handed out to cold-hit victims all over the country by well-meaning organizations and commercial firms. Private companies can only serve limitedly and millions more living below the poverty line are in need of blankets and winter clothes to fight the cold.
This cry for blankets just speaks of one thing -- Poverty. It speaks of people who are unable to buy the basic needs in order to survive during such recurring climatic change.
This leaves the government to consider what responsive programs it can do to curb cold-related deaths and sicknesses, directly and in its long-term poverty alleviation programs since its 140 million people where an estimated 50% live below the poverty line.
Similarly, the cold wave sends a message to organizations as well to come up with disaster management plans and relief missions to be done earlier to avert preventable deaths and diseases such as those aggravated by the cold.
The cold wave which registered its lowest at 6.5 Celsius has hit hundreds of people in the country especially in the north. It is a recurring phenomenon year after year. And annually, people, especially young children and the elderly are most struck with this climatic change. Reports say that already nearly 200 persons died of cold-related causes while hundreds are being admitted in hospitals due to cold-linked illness.
Health complexes are filled with victims of the cold wave especially children with respiratory related diseases such as pneumonia while the elderly are mostly hit by hypertension and heart diseases.
Here in Rajshahi Medical Hospital, The Daily Star reports say that more than 300 patients are undergoing treatment and the number of admission exceeded last 3 year's records. The situation is getting worse as more patients from the northern districts are arriving for their admission.
Organizations, it has been noted, have conducted their own relief missions for their own beneficiaries while other commercial firms have responded in wider scale to this call for blankets and winter clothes.
Dutch Bangla Bank Limited distributed 20,000 blankets to those struggling with the cold in the northern districts of Panchagarch,Thakurgaon, Dinajpur, Lalmonirhat, Kurigram, Nilphamari, Gaibanda, Joypurhat, Bogra and Sirajjanj. Grameen Phone also recently distributed winter clothes and blankets to indigent people of Kamrangir Char in Dhaka.
The NGOs could only respond with whatever resources they have for their respective beneficiaries. And NGOs, which could only rely on support from donors, could only provide based on programmed systems leaving a lot more people needing help.
In their limited capacities, some non- government organizations like Kakonhat upazila based Adibahi Sangkrutik Unnayan Sangstha (ASUS) and Rajshahi-based Adivasi Unnayan Songstha (AUS) also very recently distributed blankets and clothes for their beneficiaries who are mostly Adivasis living in Kakonhat, Godagari and Tanore upazillas.
While relief is not a programmed activity of said Adivasi- based NGOs, AUS for one went to seek the support of neighbors, relatives and friends. Staff of Dhaka-based Volunteer Service Overseas (VSO) donated cash to AUS and this utilized on blankets distributed last January 17 to AUS' Adivasi- beneficiaries in Tanore upazilla.
Read more in Daily Star
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