Jesmond URC elder Jean Degenhardt (pictured 2nd from the right) was one of a group of nine who travelled to Bangladesh in November 2011. The party included Geoff Daintree of Christian Aid, who led the group and Linda Mead, Commitment for Life Programme Co-ordinator. The visit focused on the Christian Commission for Development in Bangladesh (CCDB), which Commitment for Life supports, and Sushilan projects. Both are partners of Christian Aid.
Jean writes: -
I took the opportunity to go as I am familiar with the country, having worked there in the past, and my local church has supported Commitment for Life for 13 years. The main focus is:-
- Christian Aid work with partners to build on their response to cyclones and flooding from heavy monsoons rain.
- Emergency help.
- Long term livelihoods.
- Adaptation to climate change.
All this is in the context of empowering women, community decision-making and accountable governance.
Climate change
We visited CCDB projects in the Gopalganj District, in the south–central region in Bangladesh and Sushilan’s work in the Satkhira and Khulna Districts, South West region. All had been affected by rising sea levels, cyclones and monsoon flooding and all had to deal with saline water. In one area the sea had infiltrated 200 metres. In all areas, we saw some flooding and water logging and further south in Satkhira district we saw one area of flooding that had been there for 8 years! The Government is finding it too expensive to dig canals and waterways to drain the water away. Saline resistant seeds were being used to grow rice. The seeds are not so productive, as they only harvest one crop a year. Sushilan is doing further research into saline resistant seeds of different kinds. All felt the they were dealing with climate change and one man said, ‘ that there only two seasons now, the hot weather and the rains!’
One of the key areas of work is developing village forums. Village forums are made up of approximately 120 members and aim to raise the level of development within a community. The forums a largely made up of women who initially focus on smal –scale projects such as duck rearing, vegetable gardens and floating gardens.
Mirco-credit for old age and fish farms
As the forums develop , CCDB provides the members with micro-credit training and the managing of loans. The members donate funds on a weekly basis which are loaned to other forum members for development projects. We met one forum which had been running for 3 years and had savings of £790 and another that had been running for 14 years and had £20,000 savings. The latter forum had a lot of experience and were able to lobby their councils /government to access funds for vulnerable groups such as old age living and widow allowances.
We also met two forums in the Khulna and Sathkira districts run by the Sushilan NGO. The money they received was used similarly to the other forums, but also included shrimp farming, fish farming and compost making . The women in all the forums were empowered by the changes in their lives in that they could now afford to educate their children, own land and have livelihoods. Although resistant at first, their husbands could see the changes in their families lives and supported their wives.
Mud protection against flooding
Using mud and at the cost of £200 each, the NGO’s had helped some families raise their houses approximately 4 feet against flooding . All the forums including Youth Groups had training and are prepared for cyclones and floods, as the number of cyclones have increased in the last few years.
In the Satkhira district, we also met families that last August had been affected by floods from very heavy monsoon rains. It had been the worst flooding to hit the area in eight years and had affected 70,000 people. All of them had to shelter in temporary accommodation. Many of them were returning to rebuild their damaged houses and had very few possessions. They looked healthy and had been helped by DFID and Christian Aid, but their futures are looked bleak because of the water-logging and the poor condition of the land. Most of the men were labourers and earned approximately £1.50 a day. We were very moved by the stories we heard about families fleeing to higher ground and trying to live with meagre possessions.
At the end of the visit we were left with the impression that Bengalis are warm, very hospitable people, resilient and proud of their country. Moslems, Hindus and Christians were working side by side learning about each others cultures. Their future, living in the delta area is questionable, as sea levels rise and the land is consistently water-logged.
However, I left remembering one woman’s words: “I am proud you want to come and see me. I would like to come to your country as you have come to mine. This forum’s name means ‘Golden dream’ and I hope our dream will be fulfilled’’.
I hope so too.
