Bangladesh audio slideshow transcript

Behind the politics and science, climate change is a story about people. And in flood-prone Bangladesh, it’s happening here and now.

It’s the story of families uprooted, driven from their homes and land by increasingly extreme weather and changes beyond their control.

Rubia came here with her family five years ago, after floods wiped out their home and land . It was an ‘indescribable pain’ to leave all they had worked for, she tells us. And it’s happening all over again.

Floods are a fact of life here that people have learnt to live with over generations. But they’re getting deeper, longer-lasting and increasingly widespread. And regular cyclones compound the problem. 

In 2007, Bangladesh suffered some of the worst floods in living memory, and a cyclone destroyed the homes and livelihoods of nearly 9 million people, and killed thousands.

Rising sea levels caused by global warming are also a threat to low-lying Bangladesh. Higher tides and intense rains are swelling rivers, threatening to engulf thousands of coastal and riverside communities like this one.

In the middle of your picture is Younus Gazi, hard at work rebuilding the embankment which protects his family’s home. When these embankments are breached – as this one was a couple of months ago – the consequences are catastrophic. The family house was washed away and they lost everything. Younus and his wife and kids  are now having to start again – from scratch.

It’s not only property that gets damaged. Salt water destroys rice paddy, and makes the soil saline, stunting future harvests. Higher salt levels in water supplies are contributing to serious health problems including miscarriage and high blood pressure.

Helping these communities is a formidable challenge. But Oxfam is helping give people like Younus and Rubia a fighting chance. We work with poor people directly affected by extreme flooding, and help them find ways to cope with the changing climate.

This means funding early warning systems using radio, and training committees of volunteers to organise and evacuate their communities.

When disaster strikes, it means providing clean water and sanitation, and emergency shelters. We even provide rescue boats like this one.

We’re reinforcing riverbanks and raising homes and villages above flood plains – quite literally.

And we’re working hard to floodproof wells and latrines to prevent flood water contaminating water supplies and spreading diseases.

As Bangladesh struggles to cope with climate change, it’s absolutely vital we help communities become more resilient… so they can get on with their lives and face the future with confidence and hope.

More

• Back to audio slideshow
• Find out how Oxfam is tackling climate change