20 images Created 22 Dec 2023
Boat Schools of Bangladesh - Future That Floats
Nature has never made it easy to live in Bangladesh. The country is situated in the low-lying Ganges Delta, formed by the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna rivers, and most of it is less than 10 meters above sea level. The northern part of the country is swamped by annual floods and the southern part is battered by cyclones and tornadoes. Millions of people live in the river basins and struggle with the increasing numbers of flooding each year due to the effects of climate change. According to the THEirworld news, 2166 primary schools were damaged by floods in Bangladesh in 2017. More than 7000 schools have been damaged or destroyed by the floods in India, according to Save the Children. Millions of schools have been damaged over the years due to flooding, river erosion, and earthquakes in South Asian countries.
The flood prevented people from getting access to basic services. Now the pressure is so overwhelming that it leaves little choice for the poorest segment of the population to move into remote, inaccessible riverside areas.to settle. Government and NGO's are not that active in these areas because they are so hard to reach and are subject to regular flooding. Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha (http://www.shidhulai.org) is working for these people in the flood-prone regions of Natore, Pabna and Sirajgonj districts in Bangladesh. Road access is very limited in the most parts of the project areas and boats are the only means of transport. Communities live along rivers and canals are mostly landless, and work as day laborers. The villages have no means of electricity, no telephones lines, very basic sanitation and use water from rivers. Girls and women are not allowed to move freely due to the cultural norma and many parents and guardians are reluctant to let girls and women to travel distant villages or towns for education or any vocational training. Shidhulai envisions the river ecology as a communications network insisting that, 'If the children cannot go to the school because of roads going under flood-water, then the school should go to them'. Shidhulai has converted boats into schools, libraries, healthcare, and training centers to the isolated waterside communities. The impacts of floating boat schools have been improving the lives of the people living in flood-prone regions in Bangladesh. Through the use of Indigenous boats converted into mobile libraries, schools, and the Mobile Educational Units on Boats program, Shidhulai provides educational services, access to technology, and computer training to poor communities and improves many people's economic condition, which is perhaps as an adaptation to the impacts of climate change.
The flood prevented people from getting access to basic services. Now the pressure is so overwhelming that it leaves little choice for the poorest segment of the population to move into remote, inaccessible riverside areas.to settle. Government and NGO's are not that active in these areas because they are so hard to reach and are subject to regular flooding. Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha (http://www.shidhulai.org) is working for these people in the flood-prone regions of Natore, Pabna and Sirajgonj districts in Bangladesh. Road access is very limited in the most parts of the project areas and boats are the only means of transport. Communities live along rivers and canals are mostly landless, and work as day laborers. The villages have no means of electricity, no telephones lines, very basic sanitation and use water from rivers. Girls and women are not allowed to move freely due to the cultural norma and many parents and guardians are reluctant to let girls and women to travel distant villages or towns for education or any vocational training. Shidhulai envisions the river ecology as a communications network insisting that, 'If the children cannot go to the school because of roads going under flood-water, then the school should go to them'. Shidhulai has converted boats into schools, libraries, healthcare, and training centers to the isolated waterside communities. The impacts of floating boat schools have been improving the lives of the people living in flood-prone regions in Bangladesh. Through the use of Indigenous boats converted into mobile libraries, schools, and the Mobile Educational Units on Boats program, Shidhulai provides educational services, access to technology, and computer training to poor communities and improves many people's economic condition, which is perhaps as an adaptation to the impacts of climate change.
