For $700, stronger shelter from the storms

In Bangladesh, "real" homes with brick and concrete foundations are built to replace hovels

(Kenny Rae photo for Oxfam America)
A woman in her makeshift home, made of salvaged materials. Many less fortunate families still live in homes that cannot withstand the monsoons.

Kenny Rae, a resident of the North End, is a humanitarian response specialist at Oxfam America, an international relief and development agency. He recently returned from Bangladesh, where he followed up on a project to build houses for families affected by Cyclone Sidr in November 2007.

By Kenny Rae

August 12

PADMA, Bangladesh -- To the embarrassment of my hosts, the box of rubber boots in the office of BRAC, a large Bangladeshi development agency, didn’t contain any size 11’s. Nothing even close.

So I resigned myself to wading ankle deep through the mud churned up by the monsoon rains that covered the narrow pathways between the houses that Oxfam America is having built in this tiny coastal village in the Parthagatha district of southwest Bangladesh. It had taken one and a half days of driving and ferries to get to Padma from Dhaka, and now that I was here, I was not concerned about getting a little mud on my feet.

This was my fourth visit to Bangladesh since Cyclone Sidr swept through the southwest coastal region last November, creating havoc in the lives of those in its path. This time I was following up on a shelter reconstruction project; building 400 basic houses through a local NGO, to replace those lost in the cyclone.

Oxfam has a well established program to provide safe water to inhabitants of the affected area, and is replacing fishing equipment and livestock to help families restart their lives. Earlier visits to Padma, however, showed that shelter continued to be the greatest need, especially for widows and other women raising families on their own. Many were surviving under makeshift hovels fashioned out of salvaged wood, plastic sheeting and thatch. It was clear that the hovels, which were barely enough to provide some cover from the elements in the dry season, would be inundated by the upcoming monsoon rains.

The challenge for us was to build enough houses to make a difference, within the available budget. On an earlier trip, in March, my colleague and I met with representatives of BRAC, and we eventually agreed on a design for a house that, while simple, is meant to withstand a 100-mph cyclone, is raised sufficiently to be protected from floods, and can be built for $700 each.

Travelling in Bangladesh during the monsoon season has its drawbacks. Torrential rain washes out roads, requiring lengthy detours. But between the storms the country is at its most beautiful: lush and awash in green. And, after all, what better way to gauge if our houses were monsoon proof than to take shelter inside them during the rains?

The first report from the engineer commissioned to monitor the project had arrived just as I was leaving Boston. It was mostly positive, but raised a concern. The project was behind schedule: 250 of the 400 houses were scheduled to be built before the start of the cyclone season, but barely half were completed.

I sympathized with my colleagues from BRAC as they talked of the challenges of recruiting skilled carpenters and finding good quality timber for frames. Cement and steel, used to make the reinforced concrete columns so important in strengthening these homes against future storms, have nearly doubled in price due to high demand as reconstruction progresses. Realistically, it would now take until December to complete the project, two months later than originally planned, but at the original budget, which meant that all 400 houses would be completed.

Within an hour of arriving in Padma, after visiting the first couple of houses, and talking to their owners, my concerns about the delays subsided. Carpenter crews were working through the rain to speed up production. Family after family told me how pleased they were with their new house.

(Kenny Rae photo for Oxfam America)
A family on the front porch of their new home in Padma village.

Kali Begum’s appreciation was representative. The 25-year-old woman with 2 young children, whose husband was hospitalized with a heart condition, told me she was pleased with the new house. "It has a proper roof, strong wooden walls, a foundation and cement pillars that I could never afford to buy before,'' she said. "Next time we have a strong wind or flood I will feel very protected in this house.''

Others talk about how they feel they have a "real" house for the first time. Surprisingly, the concrete steps in front of the house, a simple addition to the design, is the most popular feature.

My experience is, however, bittersweet. Our budget is finite, and for every family that gets a new home, many more are left in their inadequate shelters. As we visit the houses, invariably neighbors petition us for help, urging us to look at how they are living, and I have enormous sympathy for them. BRAC uses firm criteria to ensure that the poorest and most vulnerable are selected for the houses, prioritizing women-headed households, and those with young families.

These are solid structures, with a brick foundation, concrete corner posts and wooden frames. The outside walls are made of bamboo fencing -- more than adequate to keep out the rain, and replaceable with more substantial materials as families get back on their feet. To put things in perspective, for less than the monthly rent of an apartment in Boston, we are able to provide a family with a house which, in most cases, is better and safer, than what they’d previously lived in.

Of course it takes more than a house to bring back normalcy to people’s lives. However, there’s something quite reassuring about having a solid house. It provides protection and dignity, and a tangible sign that life is slowly returning to normal.

For more on Oxfam America’s development and humanitarian work around the world, please visit their website, www.oxfamamerica.org. For information on how you can contribute to the Passport blog, please contact the Globe's assistant foreign editor, Kenneth Kaplan, at K_Kaplan@globe.com.