End of first day, and we're off and...talking

As much as could be hoped for, and maybe more. A visit with the USAID office in the US Embassy yesterday  afternoon ( Hands On is an authorized recipient of funds from USAID, an option we have chosen to not yet pursue) gathered several useful contacts, so I had dialogue today with someone heading down to SIDR-land tomorrow, and an extended meeting with Dr Dennis Datta,  the head of a local NGO called Koinonia, who had been down to see the needs first-hand, and has opened his organization to help us in many ways. He was referred to us by Rachel Peletz, a friend of our Stefanie Chang, and I believe will become an effective ally.

I also spoke with the country director of SavetheChidren, and he was coming to the local hotel I'm staying at to greet 2 new arrivals for his NGO, so we'll all have breakfast together tomorrow morning, Saturday. That's the way it goes, in terms of people helping with connections, and giving great immediate and straight information... things that just wouldn't happen from a distance. When you're HERE, they know you're worth spending some time with. Soon, HERE will mean down in the disaster zone, but I'm starting to gather information on that. A prime spot might be Barunga, but normal means of transport would be a 12 hour ferry ride from Dhaka. Another candidate is Barisal, closer to the only southern commercial airport in "the zone".

By all measures, and coverage, this is the worst natural disaster here in 16 years, and since they are used to recurring nasties, that's saying a lot. 

The food ramifications are staggering. Rice is the bulk of their diet, and the crop is estimated to be 80% destroyed; it was about a month short of harvest time. Also, there won't be any seedlings ( a byproduct of the harvest) to plant for next years crop, without special imported assistance. World Food Program, WFP, just announced they will provide enough food for 2.2 million people for 6 moths, which is great, but demands major new logistical issues.  Water remains a problem, since the 15 foot storm surge contaminated most wells, etc etc.

It feels like there is broad demand, and cooperation available. I'm looking forward to having Marc and Stef arrive tomorrow, and we'll all be fully engaged, maybe after they have a nap. They've endured five days of constant travel from Pisco, Peru to Dhaka, with convenient stops in places like NYC, Helsinki, Mumbai....

Thanks for tagging along with me, and I'll try to add more about BD (Bangladesh) as we go.

For some simple stats, it's a country of 150 million people, and Dhaka has 7 million inhabitants, the metropolitan area 12 million. When India was given independence in 1947 the muslim areas were partitioned off into 2 separated geographic areas, West Pakistan and East Pakistan, with a 1,000 mile long chunk of India between them. That didn't work out, and E Pakistan broke away and became Bangladesh in 1971, the name being the Bangla language version of Bengal, as in the Bay of Bengal, from whence come the cyclones. The country has a fascinating and complex history, best understood with a solid read at our favorite source, www.wikipedia.com .