Flat rice
and hot bean stew for survivors in Bangladesh
November 2007, DHAKA, Bangladesh -- Hundreds
of thousands of survivors were left homeless after the deadliest cyclone
to hit the area in a decade. Soon after the dust
settled, a
team of volunteers consisting of Krishna monks and Indian businessmen
traveled to Khulna, Bagherhat, Potuakhali and Barishal to conduct
several Food For Life programs for survivors. A large truck
was loaded with
flat rice and Kichuri (bean stew), while the volunteers traveled
overnight in two vans from Dhaka to Sharankhola, Bagherhat
which is one of the
most affected places by the cyclone.
"The next morning when we arrived, we saw the local people were
camping outside under the sky, having completely lost their their houses",
explained relief coordinator, Jagatgur Gauranga Das. "They had absolutely
nothing so they were elated to see us arrive. Mothers and children
gathered around our truck quickly, but the crowd was so large
and desperate that
we could not make them line up in an orderly manner. We decided
to distribute the 4kg bags of flat rice and Khichuri (Mahaprasada)
from inside our truck.
Within a very short time we had emptied half of the truck at
that place."
"We then moved on to another place called Potuakhali, a 2 to 3 hours
drive from Bagherhat. Again, it was the same scenario -- people living
under the sky, mostly no food, no fresh water, but somehow surviving.
We distributed the rice bags again to their great satisfaction. We had
to distribute flat rice since cooking facilities were not available at
any of these places. Fortunately we were able to distribute some amount
of hot Khichuri (bean stew) that we had prepared earlier at our kitchen," he
said.
Over three thousands plates of Khichuri and 10,000 kg of flat rice have
been distributed thus far among six thousands cyclone affected people
by the Food for Life volunteers. A few of the daily national newspapers
of Bangladesh have reported on the Food For Life program.
According to reports, the storm was the deadliest to hit the country
in a decade destroying tens of thousands of homes in southwest Bangladesh
and ruining much-needed crops just before harvest season in this impoverished,
low-lying South Asian country. More than a million coastal villagers were
forced to evacuate to government shelters.
The official death toll rose to 1,723 and authorities feared the figure
could rise further as the country works to recover.
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