Help recovery from Cyclone Amphan in West Bengal

Following Cyclone Amphan- and a subsequent cyclone- it has been a challenge for the team to support the young girls across the community due to sustained, heavy rainfall. Every day a team of 9-10 staff members have been making the trip, taking 4-5 hours to get there due to the adverse conditions. They set off at 4 a.m. and work there all day and then come back by 10 pm.

During the day, they meet with the group leaders and conduct home visits. There is an increased risk of girls being trafficked at the moment, traffickers see that the situation is so dire and they move into the villages offering false working opportunities and marriage prospects to girls and parents and young men. The team have given the task to group leaders to try to prevent this by educating the village community.

Our partners have been working closely with the local government to support those worst affected by the cyclone and now the floods. Previously people would have to apply for aid and assistance with rebuilding through local mechanisms which were corrupt, now our partners have been appointed as an intermediary so they oversee the process and make sure everyone gets their entitlements.

The girls and women’s network has already been distributing dry foods and some baby food, and dry clothing for girls and women who have lost all their clothes in the cyclone and floods, and they are starting to distribute mosquito nets.

The danger of Covid is ever-present. Cases are increasing in the region and people cannot socially distance, many of them are living in shelters and emergency accommodation like re-purposed schools. All team members have to carry PPE, masks, sanitizers and oxymeters.

Project schools continue to be closed, but the girls are preparing for tests in July. Schools are helping by providing exam questions so that they can practice.

It would be natural to wonder about the team’s morale in the face of such adversity and suffering over a sustained period of time. A project leader, Manami, says that despite all these difficulties morale has never been higher. The team are enthusiastic and want to do everything they can. No one wants to take leave and everyone says yes no matter how challenging the work is that they have to do. We endeavour to support them as best as possible, and your donations help ensure their efforts successful. Thank you!

Thanks to your support, we have been working with project leaders in West Bengal to help remote and vulnerable communities to recover from Cyclone Amphan, which devasted the coastal area of South 24 Parganas in May 2020.

Last week Cyclone Yaas hit many of the same areas, leaving at least 9 dead and an estimated 50,000 people homeless, many of them for a second time in a year. Some people affected by Cyclone Amphan have not yet received compensation from their losses in 2020. Covid restrictions mean that places in government shelters are limited, leaving many without support. Storm surges have caused major flooding, and catastrophic damage to fragile homes built from mud and corrugated iron. Government supplies - stockpiled in anticipation of more storms - have been washed away.

As a result people are in desperate need of food supplies, drinking water, utensils, bedding, and mosquito nets. Our partners are responding on the ground and we are supporting them with funds. 

Your continued support means that we can do more. Thank you.