‘November 16 represents tragedy for Bangladesh’ i was told by a well dressed man who claimed to have walked since dawn from Barisal; it was now around 3pm and we are stuck between a traffic jam of monumental proportions or heading back against the fallen trees and the thousands returning to their homes after evacuating less than 24 hours before. He was refering to both past and present.

Super Cyclone Sidr had come ashore. At current count, over 1,000 are dead without the worst areas being reached by rescue workers and NGOs. Tens of thousands of homes have been destroyed and much of the country is without power or communications for at least the next three days. The total toll to the economy cannot even be comprehended yet.

Much work will be done over the next few days and the full extent of the damage done by this awesome display of energy will be better known. What is known now however, is that, unlike many years ago in November, Bangladesh was better prepared. Over 130,000 died during the last such storm.

Stay tuned for more updates and slideshows.

November 18th, 2007 | Photography, Bangladesh | No comments

Last week there was a lot of activity across the street from us. Hundrends of school children dressed in their best outfits standing outside a local community organization awaiting a donation. A donation that could very well save their lives…
The winter months are fast approaching in Bangladesh; one only has to breathe the night air to taste the smoke from the countless fires cropping up on more and more street corners keeping the poor warm. A surprising number of people die each year during the winter months throughout the country from the cold. Add to this a surge of dengue carrying mosquitos and the children in one of the world’s most densely populated and poorest countries are at serious risk.
Thanks to the efforts of Sleeping Children Around the World, a $30 CAD donation provides poor children a sleeping kit which includes locally made clothing, a mosquito net and some school supplies along with a sleeping mat and a blanket. The volunteers of this grassroots Canadian charity gave away 7,500 such kits throughout the country; over 800 per day for two days in Dhaka alone.

November 4th, 2007 | Bangladesh | 2 comments