This is the story of an aged woman, Duloy BiBi who lives in Lakhairgram in Kanaighat upazila under Sylhet division. Duloy BiBi who is 52 years old lives with her husband Israk Ali who is physically challenged and unable to support her for any work. They have two daughters but their poverty had made them bound to marry their daughters off at a very young age. Unfortunately, both of them are not financially solvent. They are unable to extend any help to their helpless parents. As such, most of the time Duloy Begum and her husband starve. Duloy begs every door of her village as well as neighbouring villages to get some food and money. Thus, she struggles to meet up her daily necessities.
They consider themselves fortunate as they have a small hut of their own. The hut is made of mud and bamboo. “I am happy as I have a small home to sleep. Otherwise, I would have stayed on other’s land. My day starts with the thought of how would I manage today’s meal but I don’t need to think where would I sleep at night.”
Her fate jeers with her. Flood is a very common phenomena to them specially for the people of Kanaighat. Upstream water from India regularly inundates the area and it occurs suddenly without giving any forecast. The day when her hut was inundated with floodwater there was none except her husband Ishrak and she. Mud started melting, corners of the house started breaking by the water force. She was perplexed thinking what would be her next course. She stood still, had no clue what she should do. Her husband was still inside the house, witnessing all of this but was unable to do anything. “I was frightened to see the floodwater was flowing intensely and I was worried how would I move my husband? I shouted for help but others were also trapped by floodwater.”
The whole area was submerged with flood water. Some lost their livestock. Many of them had no food and water to drink. Duloy Bibi had to starve for 2 days as they had no food to eat. The union chairman with his team had distributed some dry foods almost after 2 days. The support was not enough.
“I wasn’t home for five days. The house isn’t in a livable condition. The flood damaged my hut and caused a great loss for me,” she also added.
On 29 May Islamic Relief staffs visited the area and assessed the impact of flash flood. They discussed with the community people. Duloy Bibi got selected considering her vulnerability. She had no clue what support she would receive from Islamic Relief. Finally, on 5 June she received a card with her name and picture in it. She was asked to visit Upazila Parishad Complex on 7 June 2022.
She was extremely delighted after having the hygiene kits as well as cash support from Islamic relief. “I am so happy to have this pack. We are going through intense hardship for the last few days. Flood has caused severe disruption in our daily activities. I still go door to door to beg food and money. However, my community is heavily affected due to flood and not in a position to help me. I hardly collect anything from them.”
She had a big smile after the pack was handed over to her. She thanked Start Fund and other donors for helping her and also showed gratefulness to Islamic Relief Bangladesh to select her as project participant. In her words, “Without IRB’s intervention and help, life would have been more difficult. I can now buy some foods for my husband with the money. I had no clean jar in my home to collect drinking water. Now I can store water for drinking. From now, I won’t need to go outside at night for water. I am very contended now.”