What have they done to the river?

During the summer they started cutting down trees on the river bank.  I thought they were just tidying up because all the remaining trees were pruned hard.

But when I got back this autumn, I could see from a distance they were reinforcing the bank down by the old mill.  the whole of that area was cordoned off so I couldn't get any closer to see what was going on.

 

Then today, they took away the barriers and this is what I found.  They have completely "remodelled" the river banks in this area.  Very strangely, they have put in double rows of wooden stakes in some stretches but not everywhere.

And here, they have  put in steps down to the old ford where previously the bank sloped down much more gradually.

They have done it to stop the river eroding the bank and presumably also to halt the subsidence causing the old mill to crack so badly.

It occurs to me, on this Blog Action Day, that there is a huge discrepancy between the efforts to protect what is ultimately only a leisure area, a place for picnics or for walking, when in other areas in this world the efforts made are merely to obtain some water, any water.

A billion people in this world don't have clean, safe water to drink.  42,000 people die each WEEK from unsafe water and unhygienic living conditions, and 90% of these deaths are children under five.  Just access to clean water could save 21% of these deaths, sanitation alone could save 37% and hand-washing alone 45%.   


So water is just the first step, after that must come hygiene and education.  We can all help.  Any sum donated can yield as much as 12 times that amount in economic returns, and it doesn't take a lot: $20 can provide clean water for one person for 20 years.  Compare that with the costs of shoring up our river bank.

Poverty - one way out

Photo of a traditional loom from Flickr/Anduze traveller. Creative Commons Licence

Nasima lives in Bangladesh. She was married at the age of twelve. Her husband had no shelter so the couple had to live in a hut made of thatch in Nasima’s uncle’s house. Silkworms and a handloom were her husband's only assets. Both of Nasima and her husband were physically strong enough but they had no means of generating any income.

Besides doing some domestic work Nasima used to help her husband in his work. Within a few years three babies arrived. They faced extreme hardship then, as they had no cultivatable land or alternative sources of income. In spite of the miserable conditions Nasima sent her children to school. The family expenses were steadily increasing.

At that time a visitor came to Nasima’s house and told her about the advantages of being a member of a microcredit borrowing group. Nasima discussed it with her husband and decided to join in a group of the Society for Social Service (SSS).

Nasima started to deposit savings of Tk. 5/- in group meetings. There are about 70 Tk to one US $. After a few months Nasima took out a loan of Tk.1,500/- for the first time. Adding some money of her own she bought another handloom with this amount.

Things were a little more comfortable after purchasing the second handloom. Even after repaying the loan installments, Nasima could meet the family and education expenses from the income of handloom business. She took out further loans. She invested the entire loan amount in her handloom business and as a result her income started to increase rapidly.

Nasima learnt about health and hygiene in group meetings, which motivated her to install a tube-well for pure drinking water and also a sanitary latrine. She made some furniture and bought land to build a house from her savings. Now she has 16 handlooms. She employs 16 full time workers. She gives them Tk. 230/- for producing one sari. Nasima keeps the accounts of her business herself. Nasima’s elder son is in class twelve, her younger son in class ten and her only daughter in class nine. Nasima is not interested in early marriage for her daughter.

Nasima learnt about health and nutrition, how to raise poultry, grow vegetables, and how to manage hre micro enterprise from SSS. She is proud to be a member of SSS.

Today Nasima has earned the respect of her family and neighbours. Her husband discusses any decisions with her, and Nasima's neighbours are benefiting from her business. Poverty is not an unalterable state - it can be changed. But we have to help.