In 2009, when Cyclone Aila hit the coastal areas of the country, Rojina Begum was merely a child.
Rojina Begum, 24, who lost her home to cyclone Aila has been staying on a broken embankment in Shyamnagar of Satkhira since then.
As she recalls, “That was the last year I attended school. We lost most of our lands, and our house broke down. It was a calamitous blow to our entire community. We became poorer than before but kept carrying on with endurance. Since then, we are living by the riverbank and have no other place to go.”
“Sadly, in the following years, there have been many tropical cyclones like Bulbul, Fani, and Amphan, causing chronic crises like waterlogging and river erosion in coastal region. It was like an unceasing period of suffering for us. With just an open and temporary sanitation facility made of ring slabs and no fresh water source, we bathed in the local river water.”, she said.
After the cyclone, the river water went excessively salty and undrinkable – which oftentimes caused diarrhea and various skin diseases. It was not suitable for cooking as well. So, the community members, mainly the women traveled to far-off cyclone centers to collect water for drinking and cooking.
Rojina has a two-year-old son and awaiting her second child. With her current physical condition, she cannot collect water on her own, so her mother does the job.
But that is also troublesome, as she explains, “My mother is getting old, and her health has become much fragile. But what can we do? Since my father passed away several years ago, no other family member lives with us. My husband works in another district as a day labourer for six months a year and my brother lives separately with his family. Due to the crisis, we, evermore, have to use the water carefully to ensure its minimum usage.”
Rojina walks towards an open-air sanitation facility made of ring slabs and a temporary rug by the riverbank with no roof and walls. She lost her home to Cyclone Aila in 2009. Since then, she has been staying on a broken embankment.
Like Rojina, many villagers stay by the banks of the river or Gabura embankment. In most cases, women suffer the most, as they are responsible for their household maintenance and children’s safety.
Climate vulnerability often takes a toll on their mental and physical stability, exposing them to relentless hard work and stress regarding access to basic life needs such as water, sanitation, and hygiene. Besides poverty, frequent climate-impacts hinder their living, damage their resources and force them to helplessly adjust to the inhuman conditions.
