Mission to fight famine

Since April, the people of haor in Sunamganj have been hit by flash-flood. On hearing about their ongoing crisis, the volunteers of Bidyanondo organisation set out last Thursday to help the affected people. Immediately after reaching their destination, these volunteers were divided into two groups, one tasked with cooking and serving food and the other arranging and running a make-shift school.

Mr. Faruque Ahmed, a volunteer of the Bidyanondo organisation says, “We heard from different news sources how the people of Sunamganj were facing a loss of five thousand crore taka on crops lost to the flood. So, first, we sent one of our volunteers to the area to survey the situation. We realised that the people of Taherpur would soon be facing famine. Besides that, we also heard how most of the schools in these areas were forced to close due to the situation. Thus, from the 8 branches of Bidyanondo organisation spread all across Bangladesh, 20 of us decided to set out on this mission to help the people of the area.”

The volunteers are working non-stop to provide food to the affected people. Almost 2,500 people of the area are being served in two shifts; morning and the afternoon. Apart from the 2,000 eggs bought from Dhaka, the rest of the food is being purchased from nearby markets in Taherpur.

The make-shift school is providing education to more than 3,000 students in the area. It has also been decided that they would be provided with study materials like books, pencils and more. “As most of our volunteers are students, we realise how important it is to continue studying without taking a break. We have taken the permission of the area administration before starting our initiative here,” adds Mr. Ahmed.

Initially, these first set of volunteers would continue helping the people of the haor for 15 days at a stretch, taking necessary measures when the famine hits. “Our motto is to motivate the people during this calamity. We want to strengthen them mentally and assure them that the whole country is beside them during this natural disaster. They are not alone,” Mr. Ahmed expresses.

On this mission to fight famine, the volunteers of Bidyanondo are setting an example we all must follow. They teach us that it is not only by providing materials that we tackle problems best. Instead, the motto to survive through such disasters can also come from showing acknowledgment and unity.