Major Emergency Assistance Operation Underway

by Arne Grieg Riisnæs, ACT International

Jithkar, Bangladesh, August 14, 2007 - While the massive amount of water is slowly withdrawing, the damage and emergency need are showing their true colors in Bangladesh. The desperation of people was seen as ACT members, Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) and the Christian Commission for Development in Bangladesh (CCDB), distributed food and medicines to nearly 600 families. These two organizations are the only humanitarian support present in the village.

“We are constantly hungry. I do not have enough food to feed my children,” says Shifa Begam from Jithkar, a village near the Harirampur-district in Bangladesh. With tears in her eyes, she accepts a big bag with rice, cooking oil, lentils and medicines.

“Thank God for bringing a gift like this. I cannot express my gratitude enough. At least now we have food for a whole week,” continues Ms. Begam, smiling while holding on to the bag in one hand and her three-year-old son, Akash, in the other.

Other ACT members in Bangladesh, including the Church of Bangladesh (CoB), Koinonia, Rangpur Dinajpur Rural Service (RDRS) and the Social Health & Education Development Board (SHED), are responding throughout the country. The most recent flood put 40 percent of the country under water, and people are dreading another flood soon.

“We lost everything, and there is no use asking our family and friends for help, because they also have lost everything they own,” says Nemi Lipi, a young mother of two children. Before the flood they were able to manage from the income her husband received from his job at the rice paddy in the neighboring village. Today, what is left of the rice paddy is just water and mud, and the family is surviving day to day.

“Our home is destroyed and we have to live with friends. But at least now we have food to bring back,” says Ms. Lipi, while repeatedly offering her thanks for the assistance.

Not everyone is receiving the necessary aid. While 600 families have received their bags, the supplies have run out, and a group of elderly women are furious and crying because they were not given a bag with supplies.

“I wish we had enough bags for everyone, and I understand the desperation amongst the people. But we are doing everything we can to come back with more next week,” says Steffen Rasmussen, the regional representative for NCA in south Asia.

In all the chaos, an elderly man approaches us. His smile is big. “It was first now I realized that there was medicine in the bag,” says Afzer Ali. In addition to food, there are simple oral rehydration salts to treat his diarrhea.

The hospitals in many districts have become crammed with patients who are suffering from diarrhea. This past Sunday, over 4,000 patients were diagnosed with it; children are the most affected. Other water-borne diseases are spreading rapidly over the country, and tens of thousands of people are affected by serious eye and skin infections. Typhoid fever and pneumonia are also rampant.

Mr. Ali tells us that he broke his leg while trying to escape from the flood, and that he can no longer work as a carrier. He says he does not know how he will manage without an income, but laughs sincerely while holding the small medicine kit in his hands, saying, “I am an old and sick man, but at least now I will get well!”