A private relief operation

A child wades through flood waters, at Kamrangir chor in Dhaka, with relief. PHOTO: AFP/Farjana K. Godhuly

With the cash resources, we bought 200 sarees, 800 kgs of rice, 200 kgs of chira, 200 kgs of lentils, 50 kgs of molasses, 1000 packets of Orsaline, 200 matchboxes, 200 small boxes of powdered milk, 200 packets of candles, and 10 kgs of alum/fitkiri (for water purification). We put the above materials (other than the sarees and the water bottles) plus the chapatis in 200 plastic bags, each weighing about 10 kgs.

With a supply of about two tons (2000kgs), we divided ourselves in two groups. My wife, sister-in-law, son, and a colleague went to Manikgonj with 50 bags,Ê50 sarees, and 30 bottles of water in the back of their Toyota Prado. My two brother-in-laws and I went to Krishnanagar at Dhamrai upazilla with the remaining supplies, in a pick-up truck and the back of a Pajero. We took an engine boat from Bank Town (a few kilometers short of Savar). We started from there at 9 a.m. and reached Krishnanagar at about 10:15 am.

Water level: The flood water had receded a bit, by about 3-4 inches or so, as could be observed from marks on the houses. The water level was still at an alarming level. In some places, we could have touched the overhead electric wires of REB/BPDB with our hands if we stood up on the boat. We passed by the top part of railing of a bridge (barely visible) and were told that boats used to pass underneath the same bridge.

Economic activities: Next to the damage to the infrastructure, perhaps the most negative impact of the flood was lack of economic activity. On our way to Savar, we found hundreds of trucks parked idle on the roadside and small ships and barges anchored in the water. The only economic activity that we could see were separating jute fibre from the stock, (in neck-deep water), and some fishing.

Relief distribution at Krisnanagar: We went to 14 clusters of villages and distributed the materials. My brother-in-law had earlier informed the locals about our trip. People were waiting for us and we distributed the materials in an orderly fashion. Although at each spot about 40/50 people would assemble, only 8/10 families, the most needy among them, would receive the materials. Some people also came in rafts made of banana tree planks to receive the materials. Our last stop was the shelter at Rowail High School. By then, we were down to our last 20 sarees and 20 bags of supplies. We distributed them according to a prioritised list prepared by a school teacher.

Relief distribution at Manikgonj: My wife and her team distributed their materials at Manikgonj. They finished their supply in half an hour. Because there were large number of recipients, instead of giving both bag of food supplies and the saree, they gave either a bag or a saree to each family.

Swap: One of the mothers opted to take a saree from my wife. She came back and asked what was inside the bag. My wife told her that there was food inside. She returned the saree and took the bag, saying that her children were without food.

What we could have done differently: We took all sarees but no lungis. We gave a saree and a bag to an elderly person. He returned the saree and wanted a lungi in exchange. But we had none. We gave him Taka 50 to buy a lungi. He was a widower living alone, with no use of a saree.

Low points: Our low point was at the shelter at Rowail High School. We had run out of supply and there were a few hundred people at the camp. Suddenly, while tidying up the boat we found 200 small packets (250 gms each) of chira and gur. We were not aware of the supply; apparently a friend of mine sent these, late at night, hearing about our mission from my wife. My younger sister's husband gave us Tk. 10,000 and said "Let's give this money." He told us that he carried the money in case we needed it. These were all in 50 Taka notes. We disembarked from the boat, lined up all the people and distributed the chira and gur packets and the money and returned to the boat. Our day was saved because of these extra cash and materials. Our supplies were so inadequate. We could have exhausted even 10 tons, if we had them.

Curiously, as we were distributing relief, someone from the crowd asked us why we were not taking any pictures. We did not take any camera. However, we had a phone-camera that we used to take picture of the flood. But as decided earlier, we did not take any picture of ourselves distributing relief materials.

High points: We experienced our first high point when at one of the villages we offered a saree and a bag to a villager and he said, "My house has not been flooded,Êgive it to the person standing next to me; he is poorer than me."

Our next high point occurred as we were returning from the shelter center. Someone approached us in a small boat to give us 4 packets of potato chips by Bombay sweets. This was no sumptuous meal but a great thank you. We had sandwiches from home to eat at noon. Afterwards, we ate the same chira, gur, and the water that we were distributing among the flood victims.

We returned home at 7:15 pm. I had my dinner and went straight into the bed. With the guilt of not doing anything for the flood victims gone away from mind, I slept like a log.