Save the Children Continues to Support the Recovery of Children and Families Affected by Cyclone Sidr
On November 15, 2007 Cyclone Sidr struck the southern coast of Bangladesh, killing more than 3,000 people, destroying more than 300,000 homes and closing thousands of schools in what was already one of the poorest districts in Bangladesh. Save the Children, which had existing programs in the area, immediately began providing relief. In the months after the cyclone, the agency distributed food rations to over 200,000 families; household items including plastic sheeting, blankets, water containers, cooking and eating utensils and hygiene items to over 42,000 families and daily fresh water supplies to more than 15,000 families. Save the Children also opened 190 child friendly spaces where over 20,000 children could safely gather and play while their parents worked on salvaging items left behind by the cyclone, clearing debris, building shelters and accessing relief. Many of the spaces provided hot meals and access to medical services, while they all provided safe drinking water, sanitation facilities and snacks.
By training community health volunteers to provide medical advice and distributing medicines to health facilities, Save the Children helped more than 80,000 families prevent and treat diarrhea and infectious diseases. As risk for disease in Barisal was high, Save the Children quickly began repairing and replacing destroyed latrines and water sources, such as village tubewells. This work continues, and the agency has already provided 200,000 families with long-term access to drinking water by repairing or replacing local sources and has built or repaired 9,000 latrines. As communities begin to recover, Save the Children is focused on helping communities rebuild livelihoods, schools and the social systems which protect children. We are paying 1,500 community members to repair school grounds and roads- cash for work programs which involve a large number of women and include safe and appropriate jobs for the neediest community members, regardless of age and physical ability. The agency is also helping families gain longer term access to food by distributing vegetable seeds for household gardens, small fish for household ponds and cows which can provide milk for consumption and sale. Save the Children is now repairing the most affected schools, training teachers to help children cope with the changed situation and stay safe during future disasters, and providing teaching and learning materials to replace what was lost or destroyed during the cyclone. The agency is also training government officials, community members and children to respond to cases of child abuse and exploitation and prevent these issues from arising during future emergencies.
For many survivors, housing remains a concern. Over 240,000 households[1] have been unable to build any shelter before the upcoming monsoon season and are left to survive the heavy rains under tattered plastic sheeting. Save the Children has already provided shelter assistance to 5,000 families and is continuing to distribute iron sheets and basic tools to help the neediest families build safe shelters in which to survive the upcoming monsoon season. Save the Children has been working in Bangladesh since 1972 and in recent years has worked closely with local and national authorities to prepare coastal communities for a severe cyclone. The agency conducted emergency cyclone drills for some 10,000 residents living in the area where the cyclone struck as part of its own preparations. This extensive emergency preparation saved tens of thousands of lives despite the tremendous destructive force of the cyclone that hit the coast with the same intensity as a storm that killed 140,000 people in Bangladesh in 1991. Read More [1] Shelter Cluster Reports | ||||||
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Save the Children's ability to respond quickly to emergencies like this and other future emergencies where significant numbers of children are at risk greatly depends on our available resources. By contributing to the Children's Emergency Fund, you enable us to prepare for and respond immediately to children and families who urgently need our help when disasters strike.
