The TIVERTON SUNDARBAN SUPPORT GROUP

This page is now available at http://home.freeUK.net/rlph

LINKS WITH BANGLADESH

Can you find Bangladesh in your atlas? You can see that two of the world's largest rivers, the Brahmaputra and the Ganges meet in Bangladesh. Because of this, the land is very flat with many rivers and ponds. Although Sundarban is 450 km (280 miles) from the sea, it is only 45 metres above sea level. Can you find somewhere near you at this height? How far is it from the sea? Much of Bangladesh floods every year, during the wet summer months.

Bangladesh has very heavy rain in the summer. Do you know what we call that time of heavy rain? That is when the main crops of rice and jute grow. More rain comes later for a second crop and maybe there will be enough to grow vegetables in the autumn. Rich farmers can afford to pump water from the ground to irrigate their paddies, or fields, and grow a fourth crop of rice in the spring. The land around Sundarban is sandy and the rain drains away quickly so wheat, which needs less water, is grown in the autumn.

Sundarban is a village of about 6,000 people in the north of Bangladesh. Its name means Beautiful Forest. Most of the forests have been cut down to make room for farms and now most of the remaining trees provide fruits, especially bananas.

There are many small farmers in Sundarban but maybe half of the people who live there are too poor to own land themselves. Those people can work on the land of the farmers or maybe make a living by fishing in the big River Atrai, by hair cutting or by keeping small shops. A fisherman never knows if he will catch anything so only the poorest people who live by the river do this. Another hard job is rickshaw pulling. Rickshaws used to be pulled by hand. How are they pulled now? Many workers are lucky if they earn more than 50p per day.

Most landless people in Bangladesh do not have enough money for their children to go to school. Neither the parents nor the children can read or write so they have little choice except to go on working as their fathers did. Now the people of Sundarban have a choice. Village leaders have set up small schools for both children and grown-ups to learn how to read without having to pay. The children can then go to Primary School. Classes are also arranged to train the grown-ups in new skills such as carpentry or sewing. A library is being set up and the next step will be to organise a village health clinic.