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Bangladesh: Rebuilding lives after the floods
 A father and son travelling warily by raft (Photo source: The Halls/CMS)
Millions of people across South Asia are grappling with rebuilding their homes and their livelihoods as receding flood-waters reveal the havoc caused by the worst-ever monsoon flooding in the region.
Floods damaged roads, bridges and other infrastructure, and devastated tens of thousands of homes and crops, disaster management officials reported.
Deep layers of silt and sand covered large tracts of farmland, leaving farmers to look for alternative land for cultivation.
In Bangladesh, more than 765 people died because of the flooding, according to a recent Reuters news report, and about 6 million became homeless after surging rivers broke through mud embankments in more than half of the country. The floods also left thousands of Bangladeshis stranded.
Around 145,000 people are still suffering from diarrhoea and other water-borne illnesses such as typhoid and hepatitis as a result, officials said.
David Hall works with the Church of Bangladesh Social Development Programme. CMS, as lead agency, and other organisations are ecumenically supporting David and Sarah and their children Rebecca and Reuben.
David has been involved in some flood relief distribution. He writes : Bangladesh is in many ways synonymous with water. More water flows through Bangladesh than flows through all of western Europe — that’s a lot of water!
Floods have always occurred in Bangladesh; most of the country is a deltaic flood plain. I once heard that, in a typical year, one-third of the country is under a foot of water!
Of course, we tend to forget that floods bring the sediments that make the ground so fertile, and it is because of the rich farming to be had that such a large amount of people have settled in the area.
However, many people would argue that, in recent years, the frequency of more severe, catastrophic floods has increased.
This year the flooding is above average (though thankfully not as severe as the ‘mega flood’ of 2004) in Bangladesh.
 A flooded home (Photo source: The Halls/CMS)
The pictures illustrating this text give an idea of what almost 8 million Bangladeshis have had to live through.
And, of course, the suffering does not stop there. Water-borne diseases are now affecting many, and hospitals are overcrowded with patients suffering from diarrhoea and dysentery.
The Church of Bangladesh is involved in some relief distribution, using money from donors.
Recently, we purchased 40 large sacks of rice, 20 sacks of potatoes, 20 sacks of dhal (lentils) and a large amount of cooking oil, salt and water-purification tablets.
One office was cleared and all the goods deposited there before being sorted into ‘family sacks’, with each sack getting a little of each — enough to last a family for few days.  Staff filling the 'family sacks' (Photo source: The Halls/CMS)
The Church has also launched its own flood appeal to raise money to help with rehabilitation once the water levels recede.
Families do not have home or contents insurance to help to start up again when they lose their livelihoods. We expect to need to repair and reconstruct houses as well as provide seedlings for agriculture.
Repairing the damage the floods have caused will be going on long after the flooding itself has subsided and drained away.
CMS partners the Church of Bangladesh in its emergency-relief activities and flood-prevention work. CMS sent £2,500 in 2006 to help the Church of Bangladesh Social Development Programme in providing training for community leaders in reducing risks and vulnerability at time of severe flooding. This has helped some of the affected communities cope better with the recent serious floods. However, there is still an enormous need for relief, rebuilding and longer-term disaster-mitigation measures.
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