Meet Kafil Ahmed an Oxfam project officer in Bangladesh
 "My job is to find organisations and
groups who need support to combat poverty in their region. I check
that everything is going well, and help them solve their problems.
Today I am going to Manub Mukti Sangstha (MMS), an organisation
working with some of the very poorest people in the country. These
are people living on chors, low islands of silt built up in the
rivers, which are easily flooded and washed away."
Kafil at work around the clock
 9am: "I leave Dhaka and travel by car and boat to
MMS, an organisation working with poor people."
" At MMS I will talk to the staff, and will visit a village
to see if the work done after last year’s floods helped to
save lives and belongings in this year’s floods."
 2pm: "I arrive at MMS’ headquarters. They’re
helping people to be better prepared for the floods, so that they
have some protection."
2.15pm: "A meeting with all the staff. They tell me how things
have been going since my last visit. They are involved in a lot
of projects:
- schools for children and classes for adults;
- health centres;
- lending money to help people to start small
businesses or to buy seeds or animals (see picture);
- and training courses for people to learn new
skills."
Sufia Khatun says: "My husband is a labourer, and travels
around to find work. My children go to the MMS school. MMS gave
me a loan, and I bought two cows. I sell the milk they produce to
support my family."
 3.30pm: "I meet some of the women in Tagoria village.
Last year, families here made earth platforms to build their homes
above flood-level. Although it was very hard work, it was worth
it. During the recent floods, no houses were flooded, and no animals
were washed away."
 7pm: "I go back to the office of MMS, to meet the
accountants and go through their books, to check that the money
they receive from Oxfam is properly accounted for. It’s been
a long day, but I’m very happy with everything I’ve seen.
I think this is a good use of Oxfam’s money."
Photos by Photo by Shafiqul Alam/Oxfam
Kafil's diary first appeared in Taking Action: Oxfam,
published by Heinemann Library, 1997
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