BRAC Partner Jolkona Foundation in The Seattle Times

The founders of Jolkona Foundation, a web-based organization that allows people to choose small philanthropic projects, were interviewed for an article in the Seattle Times on June 29, 2009. Adnan Mahmud, a Microsoft Program Manager, spoke on what is described as a 'democratization' of philanthropy thanks to the advent of new technology allowing ordinary people to become philanthropists.

Featured along with Mr. Mahmud was Scott Oki, a retired Microsoft executive who started SeeYourImpact. Both organizations operate with same basic idea that while most people may not be able to write checks in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, they would be more eager to contribute if they can see 'proof' that their small donations are making a real impact.

Jolkona Foundation allows people to choose projects that appeal to them, such as 'adopting' a mother and child, that will be funded by them on a one-to-one basis, and then allows them to follow up and see how their money has made a difference. Our partnership with Jolkona Foundation has the BRAC Limb and Brace Fitting Center featured as a project on Jolkona's website. Individuals can choose to sponsor an operation for physically disabled people in Bangladesh who will be fitted with an artificial limb or brace thanks wholly to the generosity of the individual donor. You can see before-and-after photos and a description of the project here.

Cheers to the Jolkona Foundation for being recognized for their great work, and a heartfelt thanks from BRAC for their support of our activities!

Amidst Conflict, Pakistanis Persevere

I recently visited Karachi, Lahore, Rajindrapur, Islamabad and the Peshawar region of Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province to see BRAC’s microfinance and new education programs and to discuss the start up of a pilot program in health. Through discussions with staff and clients, I was able to get a first-hand impression of how people are coping with the current stressful period of conflict and massive displacement of families from Swat. The people of NWFP live in an area that already faced severe development challenges--the worst record in maternal and child mortality and education for girls. Now they live in a war-zone. Nevertheless, the majority were hopeful that Government troops would soon succeed in restoring peace.

Near Peshawar, the famed Khyber Pass at the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan has witnessed the passage of the conquering armies of Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, Tamerlane, and the Mughal Emperor Babar. Today the region plays a key role in a different kind of conflict, with the Khyber Pass serving as a major supply route for NATO forces in Afghanistan while there is a concurrent flow in the opposite direction of Taliban fleeing to the mountains of the NWFP. The fighting has now expanded into this area: earlier this month a Taliban attack on a mosque killed 33 people, while 35 US airstrikes since late August have killed over 340 people.

After building a successful track record in Bangladesh over several decades and some initial success in Afghanistan since 2002, BRAC started exploring the feasibility of working in Pakistan in late 2007. BRAC Pakistan has currently set up 46 microfinance branches in three districts and will have 88 branches throughout the country in two months. BRAC's microfinance groups in Pakistan already have more than 45,000 members, and BRAC has lent over $7 million to 35,000 women in average size loans of $200. The organization works with the knowledge that in the midst of conflict there are ordinary people struggling to build stable lives for the future.



I was heartened to see that BRAC staff in the NWFP are strong, well educated women with courage and a vibrant sense of humor. I know that labor mobility is an issue for many workers, as there is tremendous cultural and societal pressure on them to stay home or close to their families instead of uprooting themselves to follow career opportunities. We anticipated that this might be a problem for BRAC, as we tend to recruit mostly women, both as borrowers and as staff. On this visit, I was delighted to listen to our staff expressing interest in pursuing higher paid posts which require relocation to other parts of the country, even if it might be frowned upon by their families. They are pragmatic and put on a veil to move around outdoors but they are determined to move. In a country that is often criticized for its poor record in women’s rights, these women are indeed agents of change.

The same is true for our borrowers. BRAC has made it a point to provide microfinance services to women as they are the poorest and most excluded from economic activity. However given the low economic participation of women in the country, many of these women are borrowing for family businesses or for work their husband carries out. On the other hand I met several women who used their money to start their own businesses, ranging from tailoring shops to beauty salons.

I also visited a larger microenterprise run by a husband and wife team who also employed 15 home based workers that made national flags for 3 months of the year and crepe paper decorating materials for the balance. This enterprising woman took us to her roof where she had set up her flag-making business, while two sheep that she had also purchased with micro-loans rested near the flags hanging on a clothes line to dry. Despite the precarious situation in the region, she expressed hope about the future. She explained that while certain things were out of her control, she still felt the need to act and take charge of what was under her control. Hopefully other women will be inspired by her example, and will seize opportunities to directly engage in growing their business and break out of their more socially constrained roles.



A highlight of my trip was the visit to the pre-primary school in Haripur near Islamabad. The BRAC school is comprised mostly of girls, a rare few among their peers who receive an education. I sat on a mat with the children while they had their art class. Pakistan’s future drew with chalk on their slates, curiously peeking every now and then at the strange-looking foreigner sitting among them. When they came up to me to show me their work, I was surprised to find that among the usual drawings of mangos and bananas there were quite a few portraits of yours truly. I took their photos and, much to their amazement, showed them what they looked like on the digital camera. Some eagerly kept returning proudly brandishing yet another masterpiece to see themselves again, others shyly returned to their seats immediately. One child was terrified of me. All were adorable.



Along with military and political strategies, the key to peace in this area urgently requires solid development solutions. The men, women, and children of the area are seeking stability and comfort just like the people of any other part of the world, and they will take advantage of any support provided by the international community. They need much greater investment in girls education, women's empowerment, livelihoods and health care. The discussion on the situation in Pakistan needs to see far more coverage of development issues such as microenterprise, schools, rural health, literacy, and life expectancies, in addition to the dominant stories of troop movements, surges, bombings, and airstrikes. We need to look at the full picture if we are to successfully support the people of Pakistan at this critical juncture.

- Susan Davis

Congratulations to Fazle Hasan Abed Upon Receiving Honorary Degree from Oxford University

2009 Oxford Encaenia honorands (from left to right): Fazle Hasan Abed, Dr. Santiago Calatrava-Valls, Professor Erwin L. Hahn, Dame Mitsuko Uchida, Professor Barry Marshall, Philip Pullman

BRAC founder and Chairperson Fazle Hasan Abed was awarded a Doctor of Letters at Oxford's Encaenia, the most famous honorary degree ceremony in the UK, on June 24, 2009.

Dr. Abed (far right) with the other honorands (photo from Oxford University website)

Dr. Abed received the award along with five other luminaries in diverse fields of work, including Professor Barry Marshall, winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize for Medicine, and author Philip Pullman whose trilogy 'His Dark Materials' is currently being adapted into film, with the first installment "The Golden Compass" having come out in 2007.

You can read more about one of the world's oldest awards ceremonies here.

"Netball was more than just a game for these girls. It was a chance for them to reclaim their lost adolescence"

BRAC in Uganda currently runs one of the largest adolescent girls outreach programs in the country, whereby we are setting up 500 adolescent clubs, each with 25-30 adolescent girl members. By becoming a part of the club, adolescent girls are provided with safe spaces to interact and engage, life-skills training, livelihood training and eventually, access to microfinance loans.

When new clubs are set-up, BRAC's strategy is to initially focus more on engaging the girls with fun activities, one of which includes encouraging the girls to play Netball. Netball is a limited-contact team sport originating from the United States similar to, and derived from Basketball. Little did I realize that its also very popular among the adolescent girls in Uganda.

During my recent visit to a adolescent club in the Nyendo, located in Western Uganda, I had a chance to capture the club memebrs from the SENYANGE 'A' club playing a Netball game. Below is a short video:

As we sat down to talk to the club member, I noticed that many of the girls who were playing Netball were also teenage mothers, and their babies were sleeping under the tree when they were playing the game. It was then that I realized that Netball was more than just a game for these girls. It was a chance for them to reclaim their lost adolescence. And the small investment that BRAC Uganda is making in setting these clubs goes a long way in helping these adolescents to temporarily forget their burdens, and be girls again.

BRAC Uganda is planning to organize cultural competitions and Netball tournaments for the adolescent girls in Uganda. It could be very well possible that in the near future, we would have a Ugandan Netball team, competing in the Olympics (Netball is an Olympic sport since 1995!)

Click here to learn more about Girl Effect, a global movement to help adolescent girls break the cycle of poverty. You can also support BRAC's Adolescent Girls programs through Global Giving

Visiting Microfinance Group Meetings Around Lahore, Pakistan

These days it's hard to find rosy headlines about Pakistan, with some in the media even suggesting it is now the most dangerous country on earth – a dubious honor. The worst part is that such claims are less journalistic hyperbole than a reflection of dire circumstances. Pro-Taliban anarchists are encroaching on major cities, public spaces are under attack, the poor are stifled, women’s liberties are endangered, and largely ineffectual security check points are everywhere.

But in the midst of all that is going wrong, it was so heartening to see that the wonderful people themselves have by and large not changed. I spent most of a recent trip to Pakistan in Lahore, which is the major city of the Punjab Province.

The people of the Punjab have traditionally been raucous, fun loving, and wildly hospitable, and those I met while visiting BRAC microfinance meetings around Lahore were no different.

The meetings took place indoors, at the home of a beneficiary from each group. It was in some respects a typical house call, with refreshments offered, declined, further insisted upon, abundantly declined, and then brought out nonetheless. Considering temperatures during the summer in Lahore routinely exceed 113 Fahrenheit/45 degrees Celsius, I didn't mind the soda. Additionally, I was feeling the heat from good natured ridicule of my Urdu - which has an irrepressibly American accent.

Despite seasonal temperatures, the beauty salon and tailoring businesses seemed to be thriving, as most of the microfinance borrowers were directing their loans to those ends and there had been no defaults out of either group!

As of May 2009, BRAC Pakistan had dispersed over $7,000,000 in microloans in the provinces of Punjab, NWFP, and Sindh . While this is a challenging time for the nation, we are looking forward to increasing the scope of our microcredit operations and other poverty alleviation programs including programs in health and education. Hopefully our work will be able to preserve the very unique character of people in this part of the world.

Impressions After Aila: Susan Davis Recalls

June 4th: I am in Gabura, Bangladesh, visiting the communities devastated by Cyclone Aila. Standing near a broken embankment, surrounded by children, I am distracted by their faces – full of anxiety, uncertainty and unchildlike seriousness. It is as if the cyclone swept away their smiles. From their worried eyes, they seem to have lost their childhood overnight. No more carefree playing in the sun: they share the brunt of the disaster with their families who now live in makeshift places on the embankment, the only high ground left in this area. They cannot afford the usual confidence of children that the grownups will fix it all. The adults tower over them. They are rapidly talking, sharing their stories and telling me what happened and what's needed. The children wiggled inside to listen -- seen but not heard.

I recall the previous evening when I was reading the Aila reports from the comfort of my air-conditioned hotel room. 191 dead, 500,000 dislocated, millions affected… And now, painfully, I see the "numbers" before me. Real people -- Arif, Zaki, Anika, Rana, Rupa, Mila, Sumon – each with a life story, emotions and dreams of their own. Shattered dreams if no action is taken…

As the Google Alert brings fewer messages about Cyclone Aila, I worry that the international community will soon forget about these children. As experience shows, when people do not receive proper assistance after major disasters, they are pushed deeper into the quagmire of abject poverty. These children and their parents need our help to recover. I am so thankful for all of the people who have sent donations. I know it makes a big difference.

We're putting in place a plan to strengthen BRAC's ability to respond more effectively to natural disasters. We know that climate change will increase the frequency and intensity of cyclones and floods as well as cause droughts. Al Gore's movie An Inconvenient Truth explained how our energy use and consumption patterns are directly contributing to these changes in our climate. I have just met the people who are bearing the consequences.

Susan Davis is the President and CEO of BRAC USA.

You can become a part of BRAC's relief and rehabilitation efforts. Please consider donating online, or sending a check to BRAC USA, 11 East 44th St., Suite 1600, New York, NY 10017, tel: 212 808 5615.

BRAC University Master of Public Health Program Now Accepting Applications

The James P. Grant School of Public Health (JPGSPH), BRAC University, is now accepting applications for admission to the 2010 session of its Master in Public Health (MPH) program. Designed to be innovative, embracing international standards, utilizing state-of-the-art methods and techniques of teaching, learning, and providing opportunities for hands-on field experience, the School offers a unique programme with students and faculty recruited from Bangladesh and abroad. Past students have come from 15 countries of Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Americas.

It is a one-year full-time residential program (usually February to January of the next year).

For more details visit http://sph.bracu.ac.bd/academics/mphinfo.htm

The application form is available at http://sph.bracu.ac.bd/academics/mph/Application_form2.doc

International students wishing to apply for this program are invited to submit their applications electronically to both these addresses: mailto:sabina@bracu.ac.bd and mrityunjoy@bracu.ac.bd

Developing country candidates could be offered full/partial tuition waiver (up to US $ 12,000) based on merit and financial need.

Deadline for receiving applications from international students is July 31, 2009.

Is There Anglo-Saxon Imperialism in the World of Social Enterprise?

That is the question asked by Rod Schwarz in a recent discussion he hosted on Social Edge, a global online community for social entrepreneurs run by the Skoll Foundation.

Rod raises the issue because of a lecture he attended where a notable professor on social enterprise and business claimed that 'without a doubt the UK and the US lead the world in terms of thinking in this area'. By Anglo-Saxon, Rod is referring to the UK, US, and other major Anglophone countries, rather than ethnic Anglo-Saxons.

The question drew many comments, with the consensus seeming to be that the US and the UK are not necessarily leaders in the area, but poor communication and language barriers have prevented social entrepreneurs on the ground around the world from having the same presence as Anglo-Saxon social entrepreneurs do.

BRAC is an excellent example of this problem. For many years BRAC has been a pioneer in the field of social enterprise, and is recognized as such by the selection of founder Fazle Abed as a Member of Ashoka's Global Academy, along with another Bangladeshi social entrepreneur, Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus.

I grew up in Bangladesh, where BRAC's presence is massive. As a teenager I drank chocolate milk produced by BRAC's dairies, while an upcoming wedding or visiting relatives would inevitably mean a trip to Aarong for my mother and sister to shop for pottery and handicraft to give as gifts. We did this almost without thinking about the fact that Aarong, BRAC's retail outlet chains, supports 65,000 rural artisans around Bangladesh. And recently, BRAC Poultry became the official chicken supplier to KFC in Bangladesh.

In 2002, BRAC began the first of its international activities by setting up microfinance programs in Afghanistan. Since then BRAC has become the largest NGO in Afghanistan and Uganda, and operates directly or provides technical assistance in 16 countries.

In contrast, BRAC remains a little known entity in the US, even as microfinance is becoming an increasingly familiar buzzword in America. That is one of the key reasons for the creation of BRAC USA, which I am now interning with in New York. Part of BRAC USA's mission is Public Education - to increase knowledge of BRAC's activities in the US among development circles, but also among the general public. For those intrigued by the growing social enterprise sector and also interested in greater diversity of thought and opinion in the field, BRAC USA exists to serve as a source of information and a representative of BRAC to US and international audiences.

Learn more about how you can support the South-South collaboration that informs BRAC's development work around the world: scroll through our blog, visit our website, check out international volunteer and internship opportunities, or just contact us. You can also order Freedom From Want, a recently published book that tells the tale of BRAC's evolution from a small relief organization in 1970 to one of the largest NGOs in the world - all proceeds go to BRAC. And if you'd like to make an impact immediately, you can make a donation here - all contributions are currently going to our relief efforts in the wake of Cyclone Aila.

-Maher Sattar

A Boy Is Drying Flooded Schoolbooks Near Temporary Shelters; An Update on BRAC's Cyclone Aila Relief Efforts

For many children summer holidays are a wonderful period to forget about classes and textbooks and spend the day playing and relaxing. Unfortunately, 2 weeks after the Cyclone Aila, that's the last thing the children can do here.

A boy from Gabura (Satkhira district)was drying the flooded school textbooks of he and his siblings on June 3rd when Susan Davis, President and CEO of BRAC USA was visiting cyclone-affected areas of Bangladesh. As hundreds of thousands of other families, they have relocated all they could save from ferocious tidal waves to the temporary shelters (shown in the photo above) where they live now.

The village of Gabura is one of the areas where BRAC delivers emergency aid relief. Below is the dashboard summary of the relief provided by BRAC to Barisal, Bagerhat, Khulna and Satkhira districts of Bangladesh as of June 11, 2009.

• Safe Water - 51,783 families
• Meal Packet- 14,918 families*
• Dry Food Package – 34,308 families**
• Biscuit Packs - 3,775 children***
• Plastic Sheets for Shelter – 7000 p.c.
• Ponds Drained of Saline Water – 40

*A Meal Packet consists of 5 kg rice, 1 kg dal, 0.5 liters cooking oil, 0.5 kg salt, 1 kg potato, matches, 4 ORS sachets
**Distribution of Dry Food Packages has been stopped and replaced by Meal Packages
*** 3 packs of nutritious biscuits and 0.5 liters of water per child

You can become a part of BRAC's relief efforts. $15 can provide a week of food-aid for a cyclone-affected family. Please consider donating online, or sending a check to BRAC USA, 11 East 44th St., Suite 1600, New York, NY 10017, tel: 212 808 5615.

A Friend in Need: BRAC's Loans Help Farida Boost Her Brick Business

Faridah Nalunkuuma’s story is a true reflection of determination and hard work. She is 32 years old, married, has 6 children and lives in rural Uganda. Her childhood experience was rather unfortunate: she lost her father in 1992 and was brought up by her mother together with 14 other children. With her meager income, their mother could not afford to adequately take her of all their needs. Faridah was not able to attain education beyond the 7th grade of primary school. She had to get married early and gave birth to 6 children.

“My husband did not make much money,” she said. “Even meat, milk and sugar were rare visitors at home.”

Farida was desperate to improve the livelihood of her family. She started a brick-making business, which is not an easy task for a woman to undertake. She figured out that if she could hire some people to help, her business would have better chances to succeed.

She had no money to pay salaries though and attempted to get some help, but for a long time in vain. Finally, in 2006 she joined the Mukona Branch (Central Uganda) of BRAC Uganda and got her first loan of 200,000 Ugandan Schillings ($90).

The loan enabled her to employ manpower and boost her brick business. The investments soon started to bear fruit: her profits began to rise steadily. Faridah took 3 more loans of 400,000 ($180), 800,000 ($360) and 900,000 ($405) Ugandan schillings to further expand her business.

She proudly now produces 1,000 bricks a day, selling them for 75 Schillings (3.3 cents) each. For a low-income woman who started from scratch this is indeed an astonishing result! She can now pay the school fees for her children and significantly improve their living conditions.

She praises BRAC and calls it “a friend in need,” since its assistance came when she was in desperate want. The family now sees a light at the end of the tunnel and is walking out of poverty step by step.

10 Days Later: Picking up the Pieces

10 days have passed since the disastrous Cyclone Aila swept over the coast of Bangladesh. People saw their homes and the property that they had accumulated through hard work of a lifetime destroyed by the ferocious storm and tidal waves in a matter of minutes. Aila left, taking with her the lives of 168 people and leaving hundreds of thousands of families without food, water or shelter. The slideshow above shows how people are coping.

BRAC’s members and programs in the region were hit hard by the storm. For example, in Shamynagar area, 5 of 8 BRAC microfinance branches were flooded. 175 of 210 of BRAC’s community health volunteers (Shastya Shebikas) and 12 of 18 health workers (Shastya Kormis) were affected – their homes were flooded and/or they relocated. All of their medicine stocks were lost. 75 of BRAC’s 237 TB patients were affected. 21,410 of 29,950 BRAC borrowers in that area suffered losses: 13,104 were rendered homeless and 8,051 have partially damaged homes.

In Gabura all 3,680 borrowers were affected. BRAC is mourning the loss of 72 of our members there. In Nawabeki branch 2,916 of 2,966 borrowers were affected.

BRAC is currently delivering aid to affected communities. Below is a dashboard summary on what we have implemented as of June 4.

• Dry Food and Water Packets* – 34,308 families
• Rice Packets** – 1,131 families
• 10 liters of safe water – 17,691 families
• Ponds drained of saline water – 6

Local authorities have requested that BRAC drain another 15 ponds of water. Polythene sheets have been procured and distribution has started. Rice food packets and water will continue to be distributed. BRAC is coordinating with other organizations and the Bangladesh Army Monitoring Cells to serve remote villages as well as to avoid duplication.

*Dry food aid packets include chira - dry, flattened rice; molasses; Oral Rehydration Solutions (ORS) sachets used to combat diarrhea; 2 liters of bottled water
**Rice packets include rice; lentil; potato; cooking oil; matches; glucose biscuits; ORS sachets

Linkin Park's Charity Raises Funds for BRAC's Aila Releif Efforts

Music For Relief, a charitable organization founded by the band Linkin Park, is raising funds for BRAC’s relief effort in the areas affected by Cyclone Aila in Bangladesh. 100% of the donations will go directly to aid the families that are in dire need of food, water and shelter.

A story about the cyclone and a request for donations have been posted on the front page of the organization's website.

BRAC welcomes our new collaboration and is thankful to Music For Relief for joining BRAC's effort to help populations recover from disaster.

Music for Relief is a grassroots effort comprised of musicians, music industry professionals and fans who believe that together we can create positive change. For more information about the organization, please visit their website.

Sturdy-Looking Trees Being Tossed About In the Incredible Wind; Paddy Fields Completely Submerged: BRAC Intern's First Hand Encounter with Aila

By Stephanie Fisher, BRAC intern in Bangladesh

As part of my Masters course in Global Health at Trinity College, Dublin, I have spent the last two months as an intern at BRAC, collecting primary data for my thesis on drinking water storage and treatment in rural Bangladesh. Having completed my data collection I thought that I would make the most of my time here, and left Dhaka to spend two weeks traveling around the country with my parents, who had come out to visit. It was in this respect that I found myself in Mongla (port city in Southeastern Bangladesh) on Monday 25th May, the day that Cyclone Aila hit.

We had been scheduled to go to the Sundarbans that day, but due to the government-issued warning not to go out onto the river, we spent the majority of the day inside out hotel room looking out at the rising water and increasingly strong gales. The hotel was a little way outside of the town centre, so we didn’t see the destruction caused in Mongla itself, but could see sturdy-looking trees being tossed about in the incredible winds, and any little fishing boat determined enough to be out on the river, struggling to make any headway in the very choppy waters.

Being in our robust hotel, without electricity or water but protected from the winds by thick walls and glass windows, we did not realize the extent of the damage until the following day when we were able to get out onto the river in a motor boat and to travel a little way into the Sundarbans. In so doing we passed several small villages on the river banks. It looked as if one house in every five had been completely flattened by the gale-force winds, and an additional one-in-five had partially collapsed or was severely structurally damaged. Groups of villagers seemed to be standing surveying the destruction while others were scouring the wreckages, presumably for lost items.

Returning from our boat trip a couple of hours later, the tide had come in and much of the village was now completely submerged. The paths that, two hours earlier, had connected different houses to one another were now inexistent, and the houses themselves were on isolated islands of mud. Likewise, the paddy fields that we had seen on either side of the main road to Mongla on the 24th of May, now, as we drove back in the opposite direction on our way to Bagerhat, were completely submerged. A few of the dykes that had separated the fields were underwater, and the little wooden stilted huts that are scattered across the fields were either half-submerged or now only a few feet above the surface.

Of course this area of Bangladesh only caught the edge of the cyclone, and came off comparatively lightly compared to other areas in the main path of the storm. Despite this, and despite the fact that we were not there to assess the damage but were merely bystanders caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, we certainly got a feel for destruction that Aila caused. Now that I am back in Dhaka and reading the figures in the news, I am so glad that BRAC, as always, has sprung into action and is now tirelessly helping the people affected by providing the necessary water, food and shelter, and helping them getting their lives back together again. BRAC truly is an amazing organization, and I am so grateful that I have been able to get experience of its invaluable work through my few months out here.

"The water was rising so fast. I saw snakes in the water and knew we must leave."

CEO and President of BRAC USA, this week visits Bangladeshi regions hit by Cyclone Aila.

Susan Davis, CEO and President of BRAC USA is currently on a visit to Bangladesh, where she is witnessing the wake of the devastation left by Cyclone Aila.

On a trip to a new local government office building called Union Parishad in Shahosh (an area in Dumuria Upazilla in the Khulna District) yesterday, Susan encountered the harrowing sight of approximately three hundred people from Lotabunia and Bashkhali villages, attempting to take shelter. They had reached the shelter by swimming to safety on an embankment and then by using boats and other transportation to travel seven or eight kilometers from their submerged homes.

One woman, Paruba, recalls her experience:

"The water was rising so fast. I saw snakes in the water and knew we must leave. When it reached waist level, we swam to the embankment where the Union Parishad chairman had transport waiting to help us."

Another woman, Saraswati, nodded in agreement, as she too shared the same experience. Saraswati showed Susan the rice rations and water that BRAC staff had provided to her, and pointed out the place she was sleeping. With tears in her eyes and a trembling voice, she also pointed to the sari she wore, explaining that it had been donated to her by nearby villagers. She said, "Now, this is all I have left. I just want to get back to work. To have a place I can stand."

Many others approached BRAC staff, wanting to share their painful stories. Susan, visibly moved, recounts that, “Through their tears, the intensity of their loss was acutely visible”.

Today, Susan visited the Sundarbans, an area of mangrove forests and home to one of the world's largest tiger populations. Due to the significant damage done to the Sundarbans by Cyclone Aila, BRAC staff were compelled to drive down to the edge of the Sundarbans where the area was flooded. They then took a boat to a remote part which had effectively been reduced to an island as a result of the flooding caused by Cyclone Aila.

There, the BRAC team spoke to the survivors on the Island, asking them about their experiences and the availability of food and water. The lack of food and water was a significant concern. Despite the fact that it was past 4 o’clock in the afternoon, most people had eaten little or no food. Some had eaten meagre meals of rice and sugar; one had only eaten a banana that day, and two people had eaten nothing. BRAC staff distributed 5 kilograms of rice, potatoes, lentils, oil and water to several hundred families, ensuring that there would be a meal at least that evening for all the children and adults standing around them.

The scarcity of drinking water is aggravated by the unrelenting, intense heat, with temperatures this week reaching highs of above 80 degrees (Fahrenheit). One man, doing food-for-work to repair the broken embankment, said, "Sweet water is so scarce. I swear if you had some, you'd be mobbed for it right now." The raging floodwaters which has submerged the wells across the country has made the water undrinkable. However, some people became so desperately thirsty that they resorted to drinking the floodwater and as a result are suffering from diarrhea and dysentery
.

People are trying to do any work they can to earn money for food and water. Some men and women are seen in the water dragging fishing nets trying to catch fish and tiny shrimp fry to sell.

Susan, who talked to people taking shelter both in Sundarban and in the Union Parishad building in Khulna, tells us how she has been affected by witnessing the loss and suffering resulting from Cyclone Aila:

“Having experienced Hurricane Katrina, Rita and Ike, I feel these people's pain so acutely. Somehow they are finding the strength to keep going. But they need to tell us their story. They stop us. They want someone to know. And perhaps care. “

Dr. Babar Kabir, Director of BRAC's Disaster, Environment and Climate Change Program (DECC) who is overseeing the relief effort at work in the center of this photo.

Tales of two women

This week The Daily Star did a feature article on two Bangladeshi women who were victims of Cyclone Sidr in November, 2007 and have since rebuilt their lives and livelihoods with support from BRAC. Excerpts of one of the women's stories is below:

DOLEYA (40) of Ghatak Char Village was married at 16. Not surprising, since early marriage in rural areas is a regular phenomenon. Doleya's husband is an agricultural labourer -- owning only 2 decimals of homestead land. Despite his sincere devotion, he could do little to feed a family of seven due to his prolonged illness.

Out of their five children, only one is working in a factory to earn a meager monthly income of Tk.1,300. Two of the children go to schools and two are yet to step into school. They need more than 3kgs of rice per day, which means about Tk.70-75 per day is spent for rice only.

Cyclone Sidr, that swept the southern districts of Bangladesh in 2007, hit Doleya's household very hard. The house was severely damaged and the only non-land assets that they had -- two goats -- were also lost.

...

Meantime, in the aftermath of the cyclone, a Brac survey identified Doleya as a deserving candidate for aid. She got two goats from Brac under EU grant. Now she has few more in stock. There has, thus, been an increase in her endowments of assets within a couple of months.

The lady now plans to sell these goats in a very short time and wishes to buy a cow. The cow would provide milk to generate more income and the calves would form capital stock.

Click here to read the full story.

Aila Update: BRAC Delivers Water by Boats and Launches Pilot Program to Clean Ponds

As of May 30th, BRAC has provided emergency relief in 16 upazilas (subdistricts) of Barisal, Bagerhat, Khulna and Satkhira districts that were heavily affected by Cyclone Aila. BRAC has distributed food to more than 13,000 families. In Shyamnagar upazila (Satkhira district) BRAC is continuing to distribute water directly to the isolated villages by boats. 1,841 families have received water in this way. The "water boats" have just started to serve the populations in Koyra and Dacope (Khulna district) as well.

In Bagerhat district, BRAC has initiated a pilot project to clean three ponds by pumping out saline water and allowing fresh water to accumulate. Based on its success, this pilot will be replicated in other communities ensuring access to potable water.

BRAC has also dispatched 28 plastic containers of 1000-liter capacity to Satkhira and Khulna districts for drinking water storage. The communities can subsequently use them as rainwater harvesters.

Approximately 150,000 ORS (Oral Rehydration Salt) sachets have been dispatched to Bagerhat, Satkhira and Khulna districts to combat the potential diarrhoea outbreak.

"From tomorrow, we shall move to the next phase of our activities by distributing plastic sheets for 5000 temporary homes for those who have currently sought shelter on embankments," said Dr. Babar Kabir, Director BRAC Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Programme and BRAC Disaster, Environment and Climate Change Programme.

BRAC has deployed an additional 50 staff from other areas to assist in disaster response and early recovery activities.

The map below, from Disaster Management Information Centre of Bangladesh illustrates the areas affected by Cyclone Aila.