Displaying items by tag: Bangladesh

The annual monsoons in India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sierra Leone have caused hundreds of deaths, while thousands have fled flash floods and mudslides. In Nepal’s southern plains, the home to much of its agriculture, huge swathes of land and 48,000 homes have been totally submerged by floods. Pray for those stranded on higher ground taking shelter in sheds, unable to move until the water recedes. Pray for the Bangladesh troops shoring up embankments, in places where such severe flooding has not been seen for thirty years. Authorities suggest the flooding is man-made, caused by the dams built on the India-Nepal border. Pray also for those grieving for the many hundreds who were killed by mudslides and floods in Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown. Many were buried alive as they slept. Pray for governments and NGOs as they work to support those who have lost not only homes but paddy fields, vegetable plantations, and fish farms. See: http://edition.cnn.com/2017/08/17/africa/sierra-leone-mudslide/index.html

The worst monsoon since 2003 hit Sri Lanka after two months of drought. 194 people died, and the toll is expected to rise. 99 people are missing, and 112 injured. Over half a million people are affected. Red Cross, police, foreign aid workers, and military are giving first aid, organising search and rescue missions, and distributing food and water. Homes are uninhabitable. Barnabas Fund reported that 200 churches and 5,000 Christian families are affected. However, Christians have not sought shelter in relief camps, fearing persecution, especially those in Buddhist temples. On 30 May Cyclone Mora’s winds of 85 mph lashed Bangladesh forcing the evacuation of 2.5 million people, killing at least six, destroying 20,000 houses and felling hundreds of trees. Meanwhile President Trump is expected to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, according to two senior US officials familiar with his plans - a major reversal of the previous administration's efforts on climate change. See:

Trafficked from Bangladesh and sold into a brothel in Mumbai, Babli started learning Hindi last year at the shelter where she was put up after being rescued. She can now read, write and speak the language fluently, thanks to Hindi classes that help girls identify their trafficking routes and record more accurate testimony. ‘I was brought to Kolkata from Bangladesh, but I couldn't read the names of train stations that I crossed on my way to Mumbai’, Babli said. Two northern Hindi-speaking towns of Varanasi and Gorakhpur have been identified as hubs in the trafficking routes towards the major cities. Activists say that identifying routes is important - not only to step up police vigilance in these areas, but also to protect the girls who go back home after a court case and are once again exposed to trafficking risks. An inadvertent outcome of these lessons at the shelter is that some of the girls have obtained places in regular schools this year.