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'Khalsa Aid Blog
Bangladesh Cyclone Mission December 2007
Index of Entries -->
December 17, 2007:
By Ravi Singh
Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa
Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh
Today ( 17th Dec ) I left Dhaka at 2pm because I have to arrange money
exchange. It took me couple of hours to do this and then had to wait
for the driver. In the mean time I had checked out of the hotel and had
some food.
The drive came on time at 2pm and we promptly drove towards Barisal. We
should have left much earlier but changing the money was very important
because there is no facility in or around cyclone affected areas. I
knew that this is going to be even a longer journey due to the lateness
in the day.
I had changed my driver and thankfully I have made the right decision
as the last driver was very very slow. We reached the ferry terminal in
record time and my driver jumped the queue and muscled his way to the
front and we got on the ferry. Unfortunately we parked the car next to
the toilets, the ferry was absolutely jam packed. I stayed in the car
as its only 25 minutes crossing time. There were beggars, fruit
sellers, fresh fish sellers and more beggars. The ferry took 2 hours
due to the ferry terminal at destination having technical problems, It
was chaos on the ferry.
The fish seller kept coming to me every five minutes as if I would
suddenly change my mind and have an urge to eat half dead fish. I could
not open the windows because the toilets were smelling extremely bad
and the mosquitoes everywhere. Finally after 2 hours of roasting in the
car we got off the ferry. After driving further 3 hours in the dark we
reached the half way has.
I met Mr. Siddique of the local Bangladeshi local Organization who has
been brilliant in helping Khalsa Aid but it was too late to discuss
anything. I had my two cereal bars and went to my guest house. The
local guy who was following me around showed me to my room which has
pink mosquito nets, the guy had a funny smile. (It was the same guy who
said he wants to feel me on my earlier visit) I quickly showed him out
and bolted the door, Phew!
Its taken me 9 hours of tough driving to get here and I was knocked out
and fell asleep under my pink mosquito net
Please make a donation to this valuable cause by visiting our website
(http://www.khalsaaid.org/donate.html).
December 15, 2007:
By Ravi Singh
Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa
Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh
I left the effected areas yesterday morning at 730 am to head back to
Dhaka. The ferry crossing was a bit chaotic but we managed to get on to
the first ferry.I had severe stomach pains on the way which i think
were caused by driving on rough roads immediatly after having a hearty
breakfast. Our jeep broke down( in Dhaka ) 5KM from the hotel and i
had to push it 200meters to the side of the road.The traffic was a
nightmare and nobody seemed to care if we were pushing the jeep,at one
point i had to turn around and physically lift the front of the
rickshaw behind me and face it in another direction because he kept on
riding into my legs. My driver came running and wanted to beat the
already shocked and frightened rickshaw driver, i told him to forget it
and just get the jeep out of the way. It was now 330 pm and i was
starving, the driver had food on the way but i was waiting to eat in
the hotel.
I was standing in the middle of a very busy street and decided to catch
a 3 wheeler ( very reluctungly ) to the hotel.After 25 mins of inhaling
all sorts of fumes and driving at manic speed i reached the hotel.I had
some snacks and a wash and then i attended a dinner in the hotel which
was organised by the charity i am working with ( BRAC ) .There were
many local government officials and BRAC workers from around the world.
I also met some very useful local relief workers who are actively
working in the cyclone effected areas.I spoke them about Khalsa Aid and
they spoke to me very highly of the Sikh religion and community.
Tomorrow ( Saturday ) i will have a meeting with the BRAC sanitation
specialist to discuss the proposal from Khalsa Aid.
Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa
Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh
December 14, 2007:
From Ravinder Singh in Dhaka, Bangladesh
Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa
Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh
On Thursday 13th Dec we left for Pathargaat which is in the heart of
the cyclone effected area. I only slept an hour last night due to
freezing to death to keep the mosquitoes away.I also kept hearing
footsteps which made me further paranoid and kept my rucksack very
close to.We left at 730am and reached Pathargaat at 11 o clock, we did
stop on way for tea and to change the jeep as our one had snapped the
shock absorber.The road to Pathargaat has a 24Km section which is none
existent and is particularly bad if you had a big breakfast.
We reached the town of Podha ,district Pathagaat, and we were met by Mr
Siddique the coordinator for the 3 villages of Podha.Podha is on the
banks of river Bolasar.The damage caused by the cyclone is exactly the
same as the one in east India Orrissa in 1999.The village is next to
where the river meets the sea (Bay Of Bangal ),so when the cyclone hit
it carried the sea inland via the river.
The local school was totally destroyed as well as most of the
houses.The school lost 25 kids out of the 125, the school is now housed
in a couple of tents. The ponds which provide the people with water are
all polluted by sea water,the paddy fields have been destroyed too.The
surrounding village roads have been severely damaged.The workers from
BRAC are doing a fantastic job by providing the local people with paid
jobs so they can be back on their feet.
There is a desperate need for clean drinking water and long term
rehabilitation. After a survey of the area i sat down with Mr Siddique
and concluded that with the assistance from BRAC Khalsa Aid would like
to provide short term drinking water and also construct some natural
(sand,pebbles ) water filter plants for the long term. The cost of
water filtration plants varies from 60000TAKA TO 90000TAKA ($2US =
135TAKA).The ponds in the immediate area will be drained and refilled
so that the sea water was taken away then pond water will be filtered
for drinking purposes.Each ponds costs 2500TAKA to clean.I have
instructed Mr Siddique to look for water tanks and also a tanker to
refill the tanks every 2 days.I will be meetiing BRACs head of
purchasing in Dhaka over the weekend to discuss the purchase through
them so we can get better price .
i had a very bad cold and felt extremely tired.i just wanted to hit the
bed. Mr Alamghir sent a sweet dish of Samia and rusgulha to my room.
That was very kind of him and i felt a bit better. I managed to sleep 4
hours so wasn't that bad ,that's all down to someone putting a mosquito
net over my bed .We will be leaving for Dhaka at 7am following
morning.....ANOTHER 8 HOURS ON THE ROAD WITH MY SUPER SLOW SNAIL OF A
DRIVER..He keeps telling everyone that he drives slow because his a
safe driver.HE WONT BE SAFE FROM ME IF HE DOESN'T START GOING OVER
50KM....
Got to remember to take the mosquito cream back to the shop,it didnt
work, i put it on the mosquito but it still bit me.
Khalsa Aid can only do these relief operations because of the kind
donations from the Sangat.
Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa
Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh
Please make a donation to this valuable cause by visiting our website
(http://www.khalsaaid.org/donate.html).
December 13, 2007:
Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa
Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh
We left Dhaka for the cyclone effected areas on Wednesday ( 12th Dec )
at 730 am and reached the ferry terminal at about 10 45am. To our
surprise there was no chaos or rush and we got onto the ferry within
5mins of our arrival.We parked next to a heavily armed military jeep
and the soldiers kept staring over towards our car ( i didnt make any
sudden movements, with my beard and turban any sudden movement may be
seen hostile ) .I was looking around this rather grand but rustic ferry
for any signs for the life jackets etc, i spotted an old tyre and
reassured myself that in case of emergency that would save me ( does a
tyre float ? ! ).
The driver was so slow that even the lorries laden with a zillion ton
of weight was overtaking us, i was looking out of the window grinding
my teeth at the drivers leisurely pace. We drove for about an hour and
reached the town of Faridpur where we had lunch and then continued on
our journey.
We reached our destination city of Barisal and met the local charity (
BRAC ) officials, we had been driving for 8 hours and were tired.After
a quick cup of tea we met the local cyclone relief coordinator Mr
Alamghir. He informed me that Barisal was 160 KM from the disaster zone
and was used as a relief operations HQ. We spoke about the relief
operations at length and then Mr Alamghir infomed me that we will be
leaving towards the disaster area at 730am the following morning.I was
taken to a small guest house and was shown a room with a bed and basic
furniture, this will be my little base for the next 2 days.There was a
temporary power cut so the mosquitoes introduced themselves to me in a
very warm yet snappy manner .I lay on the bed face down in the dark
with thoughts of despair going through my mind, "WHAT THE HELL AM I
DOIN HERE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, WHY DID I COME, WILL THERE BE ANY FOOD
WHICH ( vegetarian ) I CAN EAT, WILL THE MOSQUITOES BITE MY ANKLES ALL
NIGHT ???"
There was a music and drama festival organised for the nearby villagers
in the compound where i was staying.I was taken there by Mr Alamghir
and afterwards i was forced on to the stage where i was asked questions
by the villagers. I was asked questions about where i was from, Did i
like Bangladesh etc. Most of them thought i was from Pakistan.!! I was
just about to leave the festivsal when a man asked me the following
question " excuse me sir, i want to feel you !! didnt know what to say
to him, i know i can be friendly but i didnt think i was THAT friendly.
Then Mr Alamghir explained that the guy simply wanted to ask me some
questions. PHEW !!
I met more members of the relief team and i asked them about their work
and the progress of the relief operations.It was about 9PM now and we
went to the canteen for dinner.They had made a big effort for me, there
were Prathas,Daal and mixed veg. Everyone else were tucking into
curried Fish.I finally got to my room about 1030 and crashed onto my
bed.The sweet sounds of the local mosquitoes buzzing in ear kept me
awake.Then finally a miracle,the electric came back on so i put the
ceiling fan on.The mosquitoes disappeared but i froze all night and
since that night i have got high temperature and a very runny nose.
Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa
Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh
Ravinder Singh
Dhaka,Bangladesh
Please make a donation to this valuable cause by visiting our website
(http://www.khalsaaid.org/donate.html).
December 12, 2007:
From Ravinder Singh
Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa
Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh,
I had a meeting with a gentleman called Mr F. Hoque who is the programme co-ordinator of BRAC, A Bangladesh based charity but also active in Sudan, Afghanistan and few more countries.I spoke to him about how Khalsa Aid operates in disaster relief and that we ALWAYS visit the scene of any disaster to assess the requirements of the effected people.He was initially a bit concerrned about me travelling to the worst hit area of Barisal as there will only be very basic place for my accomodation, food etc..The travelling time to the cyclone hit area is apprx 6 hours which also includes a very busy and hectic ferry crossing over the river Jamana.
So the plan is to leave 7 30 am tomorrow (eat enough breakfast to last me till 4PM ) and then hopefully reach the district of Barisal by 2pm.It gets dark by 530pm so i wont have much time to carry out a comprehensive assessment. I have decided to spend at least 2 nights in Barisal district and will spend all day thursday visiting different areas to see how Khalsa Aid can be most effective in providing relief. I have been informed to expect the wost kind of human suffering as the people who have been left homeless and injured were already very poor. My main worry is the mosquitoes and clean drinking water, i have no probs sleeping rough or eating with anybody who is kind enough to share their very limited food with me. I have purchased few bottles of water so hopefully i can avoid stomach bugs.
When i visit places where there has been a disaster i dont think about the place i will lay my head for the night or what i will eat, what goes through my mind is that i will be back in my warm bed and open my fridge in London which is full of food but these poor / desprate people will be forgotten by the news agencies and the public. Khalsa Aid cant solve poverty etc but we can try to do as much as we can and for many as we can.I have seen many people in a lot of different disasters but i still never get used to the suffering and the pain which i see close up in the disaster zones.I am already dreading the scenes which i will witness in the next few days.
I spent the day preparing for the next 3 days and had a very strange shopping trip in the local bazars. The traffic is awful and you end up walking on the very rough road cause the pavements are worse or dont exist.The only way you can cross a road in Dhaka is to stick your hand up in the STOP motion and hope nobody hits you.But as i was the main attraction on the road i had no trouble crossing,
Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa
Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh,
Ravinder Singh
Dhaka,Bangladesh
Please make a donation to this valuable cause by visiting our website
(http://www.khalsaaid.org/donate.html).
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