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Hasna has had to move her family home five times in six years because floods washed it away. She’s joined a local women’s group to help her community prepare for disaster – raising homes, saving money, and storing food.

Hasna says: "We’ve raised the floor of our house and built shelters for the cows and poultry. I’ve also made a portable stove so we can take this with us to the flood shelter, and we’ll put aside dry food for the animals."

Residents of Char Atra and Uttar Tarabunia, river islands on the Padma river, have reported an increase in the frequency and intensity of flooding, cyclones and river erosion. They also speak of changes in the seasons, with rain falling at the ‘wrong’ time, and summers that are too cold and winters that are too warm. This is leading to crop failures and loss of income.

Chars are islands of silt within a river. As the silt builds up, new islands are formed, which become habitable and vegetated after a few years. Just as new chars are being formed, many of the existing chars disappear as the river changes its course. This is happening with increased frequency as river erosion and flooding gain intensity.

Char dwellers live in a constant vulnerable state, moving between disappearing and emerging islands every few years. In development language, these are the ‘hard-core poor’ or ‘ultra poor’ as they do not own anything – not even the land beneath their feet.

Due to a lack of agricultural land, men are often conspicuous by their absence. Men hire themselves out as day-labourers, working casually wherever they can find work, and often travelling large distances. Men are sometimes away for weeks at a time, leaving women to tend garden plots, take care of livestock, the house, the children and the elderly.

Women are considered especially vulnerable in times of flood and monsoon as they are most likely to be on the char, and it is their responsibility to get the whole family to safety. It can be extremely precarious moving small children, elderly, disabled and livestock to a flood shelter in extreme conditions, often at night with no light.

Oxfam and partner SDS (Shariatpur Development Society), through the Oxfam River Basin Programme, are working with local committees to prepare for disasters, give training on farming methods and seed varieties, and provide goats and ducks for livelihoods. The River Basin Programme also provides raised latrines, raised homes, raised tube wells and flood shelters, and training on hygiene awareness, to increase resilience to flooding and disaster.

Country climate reference: Suffering the Science, Oxfam Briefing Paper, July 2009. Renton, Alex

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Hasna makes firewood out of cow dung Photo: Shehab Uddin

Bank of the Padma river, Char Atra Photo: Shehab Uddin

Locals wash in the Padma river in Char Atra Photo: Shehab Uddin

A house is constructed on newly-raised ground Photo: Dan Cheung

Hasna inside her house, with daughter Shikha Photo: Shehab Uddin

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