Eyewitness - Richard in Bangladesh

Cyclone Sidr, Bangladesh – personal impressions from the field

Following the devastating impact of Cyclone Sidr that hit Bangladesh in November 2007, World Vision launched an immediate relief response to address the needs of affected families.

During the early weeks of the response much was done to meet the needs of those people affected. One of the things that struck me as I spent time with the team in Bangladesh was the extent to which good disaster preparedness and mitigation initiatives actually saved lives and reduced the risk to communities.

One clear example of an initiative that had a massive positive impact was the effectiveness of the cyclone shelters that are scattered across Area Development Programmes (ADPs) and communities in cyclone-prone areas of Bangladesh. These cyclone shelters, which double up as schools under normal conditions, are widely known throughout Bangladesh and everyone knows what to do in the event of a disaster. Emergency preparedness at the community level is a way of life, which is just how a resilient community should be. Another key learning which helped rapid response at the community level was the existence of Disaster Management Coordinators in all ADPs – what a great initiative that is.

As I travelled around communities a few weeks after the disaster hit, I was thrilled once again to experience the huge commitment of our local staff who were working tirelessly on a daily basis to meet the needs of affected communities. No matter how many times I have been involved in relief operations around the globe, I get energised when I meet with the front line staff and communities they are interacting with.

One indicator of the professionalism of World Vision's work became evident in conversation with a government official in charge of security during relief distributions. He informed me that the World Vision community registration procedures and food distribution systems were so well-organised that they did not have to deploy military personnel to oversee the process; in all other government distributions the military were present due to concerns about rioting.

Sometimes I feel we are rather tough on ourselves about the problems encountered in making relief operations work well. Whilst we are always striving for heightened levels of performance, collaboration and accountability, I was deeply encouraged to see once again the high regard in which World Vision is held at a community level for the work carried out following this disaster. 

Richard Rumsey is World Vision's Director of Humanitarian and Emergency Affairs for the Asia Pacific region