Recent Grants Support Cyclone Recovery

Aid to Bangladesh Tops $2.8 Million
October 14, 2008 

Nearly a year after massive and powerful Cyclone Sidr battered Bangladesh’s southern coast, Direct Relief continues to help with recovery. The size of Iowa, Bangladesh is home to more than 153 million people, nearly half of whom live on less than $1 per day and have extremely limited resources. Thanks to generous donations received on behalf of cyclone victims, Direct Relief recently awarded grants to three organizations doing especially innovative and effective work to help the people of Bangladesh rebuild their lives and livelihoods.

Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha (SSS) was established in 1982 to upgrade the standard of living for socially disadvantaged, politically powerless, and economically vulnerable people and communities in rural Bangladesh who are affected by annual flooding. The organization works in the country’s northern districts, which are covered with rivers and wetlands.

Because health services are not available to the villagers who live in these remote areas, many of them suffer from extremely high rates of malnutrition and waterborne diseases. Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha uses boats to reach these isolated populations with healthcare and health education services, making the organization particularly well suited to respond in emergencies. It provides free medical clinics, schools, libraries, and training facilities, all on boats outfitted with solar power, computers, Internet access, and other supplies. A $10,000 grant to SSS will cover expenses incurred in providing healthcare, food, and economic aid to people affected by Cyclone Sidr.

The Hope Foundation was created by a U.S.-based Bangladeshi doctor to provide medical care for the village in which he was raised. Building on land his family owned and with his own money, he constructed, staffed, and supplied a hospital and five primary-care clinics. He is now expanding this unique model across the country, accepting land and financial contributions from other expatriate Bangladeshis who want to improve their home villages. Finding land to build on is typically the biggest challenge in Bangladesh; construction is comparatively easy. A $10,000 grant to the Hope Foundation will set up two medical clinics in a region hit by an average of 10 cyclones every year.

Sangkalpa Trust, founded in 1984, has launched programs aimed at strengthening education, healthcare services, water and sanitation, microfinance, and disaster management in the southern, disaster-prone area of Barguna. When Cyclone Sidr hit this area, Sangkalpa Trust was immediately able to provide comprehensive services including education, shelter, food, counseling, entertainment, water, reconstruction, microfinance loans, and healthcare. Direct Relief’s $10,000 grant will fund the ongoing services and care Sangkalpa provides to the population affected by Cyclone Sidr.

Including these recent grants, Direct Relief has provided more than $2.8 million in aid in response to Cyclone Sidr.

Direct Relief Program Officer in Bangladesh: “Wide Variety of Needs Remain” 

Direct Relief Staff Member Matt MacCalla reports back from Bangladesh with a situational report on the health situation there following Cyclone Sidr. Direct Relief has committed $1.5 million in resources to the Sidr response. Direct Relief is continuing to build its in-country network of healthcare providers in Bangladesh to assist with this response and further develop long-term partnerships. 

Cyclone Sidr, deemed a "super cyclone" by the World Health Organization (WHO), struck on the evening of November 15, 2007, and although only lasting for a few hours, it inflicted heavy damage. Winds reached over 300 kilometers per hour, and a wall of water more than 20 feet high swept across the Bangladesh coast. Official government estimates state that Sidr killed approximately 3,000 people, but estimates from nongovernmental organizations project a death toll nearly twice that figure.

The few roads, already in poor condition, were made worse by the cyclone, hampering transportation of emergency response assistance. Electricity already prone to power outages was out for almost two weeks. Thousands of families lost relatives, their homes, and their livelihoods, as fishing boats and agricultural fields were destroyed.

Although this area is hit by a number of cyclones each year, and there was warning that Cyclone Sidr was going to be especially consequential, there was still only one cyclone shelter for tens of thousands of people in the affected area, and most national and international relief efforts and teams did not arrive on the scene for more than a week or two later. The government responded quickly, sending teams of medical personnel to the area for health and trauma care, and by deploying the military to begin rebuilding and to provide logistical support. 

While most relief efforts have ceased, a wide variety of needs remain. Most homes in the area were not officially registered (nor were the people living there), so victims often cannot claim government aid. Large numbers of people were killed in a small geographic area, and the social and psychological damage has been severe and largely unaddressed.

Comprehensive, thorough health care is needed more now than perhaps ever before.  People are at higher risk of illness because their damaged homes cannot keep out the cold and wet weather. With the monsoon season coming in a few short months, the situation will only become more critical.  And, with a compromised water supply and damaged or destroyed crops and fishing boats, people have deficient access to safe and reliable food and water.

While visiting the WHO’s office in Bangladesh, I was able to learn more about these and other health care concerns. According to Dr. Moazzem Hossain, the Director of Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR) at the Ministry of Health, there were 690 medical teams dispatched to the cyclone-affected area. Each team was made up of a doctor, medial assistant, and paramedic. In total, there were 1,204 doctors and specialists on duty. However, the number of patients overwhelmed their relatively few human resources. The official death toll was 2,929, with 12,979 injured. In the first month after the cyclone, the number of patients was overwhelming: 3,849 with diarrhea, 4,858 with pneumonia, 8,581 with skin diseases, 2,848 with eye infections, and 12,353 with fever/typhoid. 

The government has called for an intensification of disease surveillance for acute respiratory infections, water and food-related diseases, and vector-borne diseases. In addition, it has called for more and better water quality assurance, sanitation, and human waste disposal, an increased effort in health promotion and education, more assistance for reproductive and psychosocial needs, the replenishment of buffer stock in medical supplies and equipment, and the reconstruction of damaged health facilities.

The government realizes there is still a large amount of work to be done in order to be better prepared for another cyclone of this magnitude.  It has set in motion the establishment of an institute of disaster management and the provision of water purifying machines and mosquito nets. The government recognizes the need for Hepatitis, Rotavirus, Typhoid and Cholera vaccines, local field ambulances, a river ambulance, a helicopter medi-vac, and a mobile sanitary latrine. It has committed to the construction of additional cyclone shelters, and special high-rise schools, houses, and hospitals. Finally, it has come to the heart breaking conclusion that better mass casualty management is needed, as well as better coordination at all levels with governmental, non-governmental, and donor organizations committed to disaster management and recovery.

$1.2 Million Worth of Medicines, Supplies Sent to Bangladesh to Aid Response to Cyclone Sidr

Direct Relief is continuing to respond to specific requests from local partners in Bangladesh affected by Cyclone Sidr, and today sent eight tons of medical material assistance, valued at $1.2 million (wholesale), to local partner Sangkalpa Trust.

This shipment contained a disaster module, a standard part of Direct Relief’s response to emergencies worldwide, with an assortment of wound dressings, sutures, exam gloves, and analgesics. Also included was a wide range of broad spectrum antibiotics, surgical instruments, and vitamins. All items were specifically requested.

Sangkalpa Trust has created a mobile medical team staffed with two doctors, three nurses and two lab techs. The team will be used for outreach to remote areas with limited access to healthcare services, particularly in the districts of Barguna, Patuakhali, and Sathira, three of the hardest hit areas.

After Cyclone Sidr struck Bangladesh in November and caused a subsequent 15-foot tidal surge, Direct Relief immediately responded to local partners’ needs by redirecting a large consignment of antibiotics, oral rehydration salts, wound care supplies, and analgesics that had reached the capital city of Dhaka only weeks prior. 

These initial supplies were sent to partner organization SSS to backfill medical stores used to respond to the massive flooding that affected Bangladesh just months prior to the cyclone.
 
According to U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, nine million people have been affected by the powerful cyclone, and due to the limited access to the remote coastal regions, aid has been slow to reach those on the periphery.

Direct Relief will continue to support the emergency response for as long as needed, alongside its regular supplies of medical material aid to fulfill the long-term needs of its network of partners in Bangladesh.

Additional Aid Set for Bangladesh Partners

Direct Relief International is preparing to send at least two additional emergency airfreight shipments of medical material aid to help those affected by Cyclone Sidr, which latest reports estimate has left nearly 3,500 dead in its wake.

An emergency supply of medical materials is being prepared for Direct Relief partner Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha (SSS), a locally run nonprofit healthcare and education provider. Another shipment is now being put together for SSS and will likely be sent out early next week.

SSS successfully received a shipment of aid last week that Direct Relief sent in response to severe flooding in Bangladesh during September and October.  According to SSS staff, the recently received supplies, including 46,000 sachets of oral rehydration solution, will be used for response to both emergencies.

“There is urgently need for supplies of food, water and medicine in remote areas. Shortage of drinking water and medicine had caused outbreaks of diarrhoea in many places,” said Abul Hasanat Mohammed Rezwan, executive director of SSS, in e-mail communication with Direct Relief.

Additionally, SRDD, a newly-established Bangladeshi partner, has offered its assistance and expertise in internal logistics within the country, which will allow Direct Relief to expedite a greater amount of aid into the hands of those affected by the cyclone. SRDD also will coordinate in-country transportation to partners within Bangladesh, sending the supplies to medical facilities in the hardest hit regions.

Direct Relief has set up a specific designation for cash contributions intended for the cyclone recovery, and 100 percent of contributions to that fund will go towards programmatic expenses. If you wish to donate for the recovery, please make sure to choose “Bangladesh Cyclone” as your designation on our donation page.

Direct Relief Engages Partners, Officials, and Donors to Aid Bangladesh

Four days after Cyclone Sidr struck Bangladesh with violent winds and a 15-foot surge of water, Direct Relief International continues to galvanize available resources to help the 3 million people affected by the emergency.

As reported on Friday, two shipments that were intended for regular ongoing support of local partners will be redirected for emergency response as needed, and Direct Relief is working with local groups to learn of specific needs in connection with the cyclone response.

Direct Relief staff members have been in touch with the Bangladeshi consulate in Los Angeles to offer the organization’s support and discuss ways to expedite clearance of medical material aid into the country.

Additionally, Direct Relief has approached several of its corporate donors about donations of antibiotics, personal care items, and water purification systems, among other items, specifically for the cyclone recovery.

According to Direct Relief's partners in Bangladesh, the severity of the impact, and thus the appropriate response, has not yet been fully realized. "The scale of devastation is so severe [but] it is not yet clear as many areas are inaccessible," said Dr. Iftkher Mahmood of Hope Foundation via e-mail.

Communications with these partners has been challenging; the cyclone destroyed much of the country's communications and electrical infrastructure, making phone calls and e-mail correspondence difficult.

Though Direct Relief does not have a specific campaign for cash contributions to the cyclone recovery, we will honor any requests for donations to be directed to the response in Bangladesh. Due to a recent bequest, Direct Relief pays for all of its own overhead administrative and fundraising expenses, and 100 percent of all donations we receive are applied for programmatic expenses.

Direct Relief International Reaching Out to Partners in Bangladesh, Releases $280,000 in Medical Aid

In response to Cyclone Sidr, a Category 4 system that hit Bangladesh yesterday evening, Direct Relief has reached out to its long-standing network of in-country partners with offers of medical material assistance and released for the emergency $280,000 (wholesale) in material currently en route to partners.

A 20-foot container of medical material aid for the Hope Foundation’s hospital is currently at sea, and an air freight shipment containing 46,000 sachets of oral rehydration solution to SSS recently cleared customs. The materials in both shipments will be redirected to help those affected by the cyclone if needed.

Direct Relief has contacted Hope Foundation’s Hospital for Women and Children in Cox’s Bazar (150km south of Chittagong and Southeast of the Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka), Marie Stopes International’s Clinic in Dhaka, and Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha (SSS), also located in Dhaka, to gauge their needs. All are still assessing the situation, and will report back with specific needs once a clearer picture of the impact emerges.

Based on past experience responding to cyclones, Direct Relief expects that the medical needs of the affected population will be supplies to help treat traumatic injuries, antibiotics to help treat water-borne illness, and antifungal medications for skin infections.

According to Reuters, Cyclone Sidr has caused 587 deaths and thousands of injuries, numbers that are feared to soar higher as response efforts continue. An estimated 3.2 million people have been displaced from their homes.

A cyclone, called a hurricane or typhoon in other world regions, is a low pressure system with high velocity spiraling winds. In the case of Sidr, these winds triggered a 15-foot tidal surge that violently struck populated areas and easily flooded Bangladesh’s low topography.

Direct Relief has had relationships with partners in Bangladesh since 1972. Earlier this year, Direct Relief answered requests for an emergency response to the severe flooding that was triggered by intense monsoons across Southeast Asia.