A similar tale is told by Morjina (60) who described how every year her mud and straw house was destroyed in floods until they finally had enough and moved to Mollah where her brother and three sisters had already moved. She is happy that her three sons have found work and that they all have enough food to eat in a country which 88 out of 117 countries included in the Global Hunger Index.

Kohinoor’s father in law died in Cyclone Sidr in 2007 when she took the well-worn climate trail from Patukhali District to Khulna city where it proved difficult to find work and then moved on to Dhaka. Her husband exchanged his life as a fisherman to take charge of a cycle rickshaw. She sells vegetables.

All of the women we spoke lost their homes in the fire which swept through the slum in 2018 and had to re-build with the help of neighbours. It is a place of remarkable resilience.  “We are always facing the danger of fire,” said one woman.

The other challenges they list include unsanitary conditions of the surrounding environment, the heavy rainfall which brings regular flooding into their makeshift homes and the struggle to get official papers given that they have no official address.

They know little about the science of climate change but they all raise their hands when asked if they were feeling its effects.

Date:

10 Dec 2019

Sources:

United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction - Regional Office for Asia and Pacific (UNDRR AP)

Themes:

Climate Change, Urban Risk & Planning, Disaster Risk Management

Countries:

Bangladesh

Regions:

Asia