The rural reality

On Wednesday we saw three rural post intervention communities which Shushilan, the rural partner who works in the area, work with. Saline intrusion is a huge problem in this area, and it is predicted that 17% of Bangladesh will be underwater in 30 years time.

We travelled to Kashimari Care Mazhipara in Satkhira district. Before intervention, the community had 2 tube wells, both of which had been contaminated by saline water and so were only used for washing. This meant that to get safe drinking water they travelled around 2km. Most of the community didn't have any hygiene knowledge, and only 10% practiced good hygiene, such as the proper use, operation and maintenance of a latrine.

The community formed a committee like the one we had seen yesterday, and prepared an action plan of what they wanted where within the community, how it was going to be done, along with who was responsible and what timeline it would be done in. They gained one tube well through Shushilan, and were planning on trying to get another by lobbying the Union (the area in which they live - unions make up districts). The tube well they had post intervention was on 2 different levels so that when they are flooded during the monsoon season, they are still able to get clean water. It struck me how simple some of the solutions are to help people, and how capable they are if given a little knowledge, such as how to lobby the Union.

We also visited Kashipur Mundapara in the same district. This community are an ethnic minority and their closest safe water source in a pond sand filter (PSFs are like mini RGFs) which is 3km away. This community is lucky that they have had a rain water harvesting system, which means that they no longer need to walk this distance for 2-3 months of year, but for the rest of the year, water cannot be stored and needs to be collected. This community are low in the ranking of the Hindu caste system, and this means that when they do get to a pond filter during the months they can't use the rain water harvesting system, then it often takes them 3-4 hours to collect their water because they are constantly moved to the back of the queue due to their caste. It was really upsetting to see what an improvement WaterAid can make for part of the year through the harvesting system, and yet know that this hasn't solved all of their problems.

It was quite striking to see the difference between really simple solutions that make such a difference, compared to the areas where it is really difficult to help solve the issues. The salinity of this area has increased due to an increasing sea level and an increasing number of cyclones and storm surges. When we asked the community how they feel about the fact that they are experiencing the effects of climate change, despite Bangladesh not being a large contributor, they answered that because the West has predominantly caused the issue, they expect that the West will help them to solve it. It was incredibly humbling and embarrassing to hear this response, as I wondered how many people in the West feel the same.