1st Dec - The effect of climate change

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Following a seven hour car journey out of Dhaka to the south west to the Shyanmagar area in the Satkhita district we met WaterAid's partner organisation Shushilan. Shushilan has done a lot of work in the area addressing the challenge of saline intrusion, a consequence of climate change, rising sea levels and over abstraction from rivers and groundwater. The effect of this on the local communities is that many drinking water sources which were previously usable have become contaminated by saline water.

In order to see how this affects people's lives we visited two communities in this coastal area, and although they were not far apart it took a while to reach as the roads are narrow as they're surrounded by water-logged shrimp farms as far as the eye can see. One of the remotest communities is the Kashimari Care Mazhipara community of about 80 households. The Community Volunteer Organistation (CVO) explained that pre intervention from WaterAid's partners they had no safe drinking water nearby, it took two hours to collect drinking water, they also suffered from poor sanitation conditions and people were unaware of the health issues from open defecation.

The CVO's vice president Ashura Parun invited us to her nearby home, where she lives with her husband, father and mother-in -law, two brothers-in-law and her daughter, Mim. Ashura explained that once Shushilan installed the tubewell pump about 100 yards from her home she no longer had to walk two hours to collect water ( the tubewell is 585ft deep to get to avoid salinity). The time saved has enabled her to spend more time looking after her 5-year-old (she needs to collect 6-7 pots of water a day) and looking after her families' needs. Additionally, after intervention from WaterAid's partner each household has their own latrine, and Ashura confirmed the environment had improved significantly, resulting in fewer illnesses and expensive visits to the (unqualified!) local doctor.

The overall impression of this family was of how content they were, the supply of drinking water and improved hygiene had enabled them to focus on other needs such as income & education, in fact while I realised they were at risk form climate change and cyclones while we were sat under the roof of their kitchen area the atmoshpere was really peaceful and almost idyllic!.

The second community, Kashipur Mundapara, was similar in that it was extremely remote and accessed via a narrow road surrounded by salt water.

The road into Kashimari community

This community also had a community group established to address the issue of clean water and sanitation, and were as determined to improve their situation as the Kashipur community had been, but the challenge was that due to the geography of this village in that it was small island surrounded by salt water it was impossible to install tubewells. WaterAid's partners had set up a system of rain water collection which collected rain from the roofs of their houses and stored them in large water butts. This collected enough water in the rainy season, but this only covers 3-4 months, so the women of the community still have to walk for 2.5 hours to collect water from the nearest fresh water point in the nearest town.

Rain Water Harvesting

The committee's vice president Minu made it clear how much of a problem this was for the community. Physically it involves carrying a huge water pot containing approximately 30 litres for 2-3 kms across land which is often water-logged up to her knees, and sadly as this community is a Hindu minority, she would often get harassed by men in the nearby town and sent to the back of the queue for water. She also had a small child which she would often have to carry for parts of the journey. Minu was clearly distressed by this and told us several times the task of collecting water caused her much pain and suffering, and wanted to know when WaterAid's partner would resolve the situation. They are working on different solutions but the problem of saline intrusion needs more research.

Meeting with Kashipur VCO

It was difficult leaving this community in the knowledge that their water and sanitation needs had not yet been fully met, and that saline intrusion is a problem partly caused by climate change, which is the Western worlds making, not a developing country like Bangladesh.The contrast with the first community we visited was significant, the community with secure water & sanitation was a much happier, healthier place.

On a positive note, it was impossible not to be impressed by WaterAid's partner organisation Shushilan, and they and WaterAid Bangladesh assured us that they work continually on solutions for communites like Kashipur.

This is a reminder of why the funds and support we raise in the UK for WaterAid is so vital to reansform lives in some of the world's poorest countries...

Contact me: danwateraid2010@gmail.com
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