Aynamoti, 49, lives with her husband and five children, along with fourteen other families, on a char.
The last char – a sandbar, emerging as an island within a river channel – she was on was destroyed in a cyclone, along with her home. She was lucky not to have lost any of her family. Char living is hard. Aynamoti’s husband splits his time between farming a small amount of local land and labouring part-time on the mainland. Finding work is especially hard as a person who suffers from discrimination, and his low wages rarely feel enough to support the family. These stresses are compounded by the constant risk of flooding or displacement at any moment. “During the monsoonal rains, the whole area gets inundated,” Aynamoti says. “We have to run for shelter on the mainland, leaving all our property behind.”
Even if her property survives this time, the risks to health are a constant worry. Lacking proper infrastructure or water-treatment knowledge, there are only four open toilets for all fourteen families on the char. Being open, they are exceptionally prone to flooding and spreading disease.
The threat to health and home are real for families like Aynamoti’s, and are only going to get worse as the climate changes.
“Last year, my daughter got affected by severe dysentery,” Aynamoti recalls. “It was confirmed to be due to drinking contaminated water after the rains.” The threat to health and home are real for families like Aynamoti’s, and are only going to get worse as the climate changes. Yet, without access to alternative livelihoods or clean water, she will have no choice but to live in constant fear of what might come next, and who it might affect.
45million
people living below the
poverty line in Bangladesh
A CHANGING TIDE
Thanks to your support, Karuna is now working in Bangladesh.
Working alongside a new partner, we are funding a project with displaced and vulnerable char communities. We provide support to survivors of flooding or char destruction – people just like Aynamoti – as well as sustainable livelihood training.
Workshops around disaster planning, flood forecasting, and practical flood-mitigation techniques increase community preparedness. Additionally, training and awareness-raising activities around proper hygiene, sanitation, and water treatment help mitigate the spread of disease. Our partners also work closely with communities to increase access to safe water in the face of discrimination and disaster. There is a focus on protecting women and girls in the form of peer support and surveillance groups. This combats trafficking, an often overlooked consequence of natural disasters and displacement.
Not only does this project have the potential to meet a clearly urgent developing need, it also represents Karuna’s new aim to combat the effects of climate change.
We are truly excited for this promising new work and look forward to increasing its reach, and report back to you about its anticipated success, in the very near future. With your support, we hope that families like Aynamoti’s can move into a future with dignity and without fear.
