Humanity First

Humanity First has been working in Bangladesh since the Cyclone of 2007 and is now focussed on longer term projects.

Education & Training
Humanity First is looking into projects to support local schools and also to provide vocational training in remote parts of Southern Bangladesh. After the cyclone, Humanity First assisted in the rebuilding and renovation of two local schools in Rangabali. It is also now looking into the feasibility of opening a secondary school there.

HF is also considering options for long-term vocational training such as IT based on local demand and opportunities.

Cyclone Sidr – Nov 2007
Following the catastrophic category IV cyclone Sidr that struck the southern coast of Bangladesh on the 15th November 2007, over 5,000 people were killed or missing, over 34,000 injured, and millions were without shelter or food. Livelihoods were also destroyed as almost half a million heads of livestock were killed, and almost the entire areas rice crop and shrimp farms were washed away.

Humanity First sent in a local assessment team within hours from Dhaka and Chittagong, and after consultation with local authorities, were soon allocated the island of Rangabali with a population of 100,000. The authorities kindly provided the Forestry Commission building as a base for HF to work from. Over the next two weeks, HF were able to provide food, water, supplies and medical assistance.

A team of doctors from Asia and North America dealt with 1,050 medical cases, though thankfully the fear of the spread of water-borne diseases did not materialise. Food packs and hot meals were distributed to 16,050 people, and thousands of packs of sanitary items and utensils were also distributed to remote areas on the island. 48,000 litres of bottle water was also distributed. This took time as the road infrastructure was not ideal, and access to other villages was through motor launches. In total, HF had 150 volunteers working around the clock on the ground.

Finally, in order to help the villagers get back on their own feet, 330 water treatment units were distributed which will help them produce safe water locally for months without reliance on battled water. The roofs of two local schools were repaired to allow the education process to begin again.