Cyclone-hit Bangladeshis take responsibility for relief efforts

Up to his waist in muddy canal water, Mohammed Emadul Haq groans as he and eight other volunteers struggle to pull heavy tree trunks out of a blocked waterway.

No one has asked 52-year-old Haq to do this. He took it on himself after realising that boats carrying essential supplies would not get through to devastated villages unless somebody cleared the canal. “This is totally voluntary,” he told AFP, taking a quick rest from the backbreaking work that he estimates will take three days.

As residents of the devastated southern region hit by Cyclone Sidr take stock of the death and destruction and wait for help to arrive, many Bangladeshis like Haq are doing whatever they can to aid their compatriots.

“We are Bangladeshis, and it’s our responsibility to help however we can,” said the muscular farmer and former local official. A few hundred yards (metres) away, another team of volunteers unloads a truck onto a boat destined for one of the worst-hit areas, where a week after the devastating storm, people face starvation and disease.

Although the international community has pledged at least 120 million dollars, due to logistical difficulties aid is only trickling in and people cannot afford to wait. Swapan Das, a businessman from the the neighbouring district of Barisal took a collection from 21 other businessmen to do what they could to help.

Together they donated 500,000 taka (7,140 dollars), a fortune in Bangladesh where 40 percent of the population lives on less than a dollar a day.

They have spent the cash on packages of essentials including rice, utensils, biscuits and clothes for 500 families.

Bashbunia Village, Friday, AFP