Building Communities

AYAD Carly Sheehan discovers the true meaning of building community in the diligence, pride and hard work of the local people in flood-ravaged Bangladesh. Here she shares her story:

Having enough food on the table is one of the cornerstones of food security in the developing world. But in Bangladesh many of the poorest and most vulnerable have struggled to save their crops from annual floods and ensure enough income to feed their communities throughout tough years. The CARE Bangladesh food security program, Strengthening Household Ability to Respond to Development Opportunities (SHOUHARDO), looks to address the underlying causes of food insecurity by reaching some of the poorest and most vulnerable households in four regions of Bangladesh.

I was placed with CARE Bangladesh as a Regional Documentation Officer, tasked with investigating and reporting on the both successful community changes and any unexpected challenges of the SHOUHARDO Program, for use with donors and importantly, for internal learning. While my base was in Chittagong, the second biggest city in Bangladesh in the south, my work also took me to the remote north east, which experiences flooding for up to six months of the year.

On a map, Kewarjore union (a collection of villages) is just 24 kilometres off Kishoreganj District. In reality, due to inaccessible roads and poor transportation systems, it is a 40 minute drive from the town and then a 3-4 hour journey by boat (or a one hour speed boat ride if you’re a bideshi (foreigner) like me).

A quarter of all residents in Kewarjore work as sharecroppers, tending the land for absent landowners, and taking a share of the profits. For many years, these residents have struggled to save their rice paddies from the early flooding of the Dhoulai River. In Kewarjore, the only source of income for many households is the one annual rice harvest. When crops are destroyed by the floods many are forced to turn to money lenders to supplement their income, at which times interest rates are increased due to demand. Theft and domestic violence incidences also increase during these hard times, and there are reports that some households sell the labour of their young sons to receive the bride’s dowry.

In October 2005, after a devastating flood which had destroyed over 12 million taka (AUD$1 = 45 taka) worth of crops, the SHOUHARDO program began to implement activities in Kewarjore union. As the harvest usually takes place in April, in 2006 the SHOUHARDO Program put a plan into motion that would see a temporary embankment constructed that was big enough to delay flood waters to provide enough time to harvest the crops, before being washed away. In 2006 and 2007, the communities joined together with CARE Bangladesh to raise funds and provide labour to construct these embankments, which saved 250 million taka worth of crops from flood damage.

In 2008, the villagers of Kewarjore, who were extremely pleased with the past results of embankment building, decided to share this knowledge with people from other villages. With the help of CARE Bangladesh, observers from 29 villages were brought to Kewarjore to speak with the village committee and witness the embankment building.

The day itself was one of the most special of my time in Bangladesh. Different groups – school children, women’s empowerment groups, and different villages – were all given strips of coloured cloth, to identify themselves and their working area. These groups marched proudly to their designated areas, carrying banners, playing instruments, chanting and laughing, excited about the day’s festivities. Members of the communities who were unable to contribute physical labour were organised to prepare food, care for young children, and fetch drinking water. Each village had raised enough funds to purchase livestock to slaughter, which ceremoniously took place beside the embankment. A private breastfeeding area was established for lactating mothers, and the local government doctor was organised to provide medical services by the organising villagers.

I was lucky enough to be invited to observe the embankment building for myself, and couldn’t believe that over 8,000 people could be organised to work together to build a 7.2km embankment. The atmosphere was one of celebration and fun, and it was an inspiring day to be part of. The labour was backbreaking – using picks and shovels, the villagers dug and dug at the soil, and then carried it in baskets on their heads to dump in piles, forming the embankment. The embankment took five days to be completed, and at its completion, the observers from other villagers were challenged to make their own workplans for embankment building.

This process, of not only motivating other communities, but strongly encouraging them to make commitments to follow suit, proved to be a successful model. The Kewarjore experience was harnessed by 35 communities, including one village that built a 10km embankment, and one village that constructed a particularly impressive 7.5km permanent embankment. What is most remarkable is that these embankments were conceptualised and completed, by the initiative and voluntary work of thousands of people, within a month and a half.

My Bengali counterpart Sharmin and I investigated the impacts of two embankments that were constructed on the Kewarjore model, and were amazed at the enthusiasm and dedication shown by the communities. At one of the villages I was told a story of an elderly man who was so committed to the embankment that he proclaimed that if should die while working on the embankment, that his family and community should not stop the work to perform his funeral rites, as it was more important to finish the construction. Thankfully, he lived to see the construction completed.

What seems like such a simple idea has revolutionised the rural north east of Bangladesh, and I was very proud to be part of an organisation that worked so effectively with communities, to not only provide financial support, but also the skills, knowledge and drive for the communities to provide for themselves sustainably in future. The people of Bangladesh, among the poorest in Asia, continually impressed me with their determination to provide better lives for their children, and were so generous with what little they had.

Spending 12 month as an Australian Youth Ambassador for Development really opened my eyes to the inequalities of the world, but also to the similarities of people, no matter what their financial standing, race or religion.