December in Bangladesh doesn’t feel much like the holiday season at all – especially since the news here is still full of tragic stories about Cyclone Sidr. My friend and research assistant Shakil was telling me about a conversation he had with a rickshawallah the other day. He asked the rickshawallah where he was from, and he said "Borisal" (one of the provinces hit especially hard). Shakil asked whether his family was okay, and the guy said that of his immediate family, eleven people were killed – and they were all men. Sons, brothers, uncles. They were all out on a fishing boat miles from shore - even if they'd had a motorboat, it would have taken them 12 hours to get back after hearing the warnings. But they didn't have a motorboat - just a rowboat. And now it is a family of widows and orphans. The rickshawallah said his youngest son called him from their village and said, "Baba, we have no rice. We're catching shrimp and throwing them into a fire and eating them - it's all we have. Baba, please send money." So the rickshawallah sold one of his two rickshaws for 5000 taka - about 80 dollars, much less than it was worth. And later that day he was planning to sell the second one. That means no income in the future, but it will at least buy his family some rice.
Also affected, though to a less traumatic degree, is a family who adopted me during my first summer in Bangladesh. This family has been so kind to me in the year and a half since I met them; they have been my best Bangla teachers and my first glimpse of real Bangladeshi life. And they have done all this despite their many problems: lack of a job for the two men in the house, lack of husbands for two of the daughters, lack of money generally. They, like so many others, are trying to make ends meet in Dhaka – but they’re barely scraping by. Two summers ago I visited their village home with them for several days, and it was the best experience I’ve had so far in Bangladesh, sharing their food and their entertainment and their talk. They were so proud of their village compound, with its main house built of sturdy brick and its bamboo outbuildings. In one of the bamboo and tin sheds lived the family’s prized possessions – a dairy cow and her calf. The cow produced over 4 liters of milk a day, which provided the village family members with an ongoing source of income – meager (at about $0.50 per liter, or $2 per day) but dependable. In addition, they could sell her calves. She was a very valuable member of their family.
Like so much of the livestock in rural Bangladesh, she was killed in the cyclone last month.
Ben and I talked about how we might be able to help this family. We knew that it wouldn’t be feasible to purchase a cow for them – our budget is comfortable enough, but it doesn’t cover sudden relatively large expenses, such as the $200 - $350 it would cost to buy a cow at this time of year. (Prices are especially high because the second Eid is coming, a festival that commemorates Abraham’s sacrifice with ritual livestock slaughter.) But we thought it might be a worthy cause to bring to our friends and family – if those of you who are able could make small donations to our Christmas Cow Fund (even just $5 or $10), it shouldn’t take too long to come up with enough cash to fund a dairy cow. On a large scale, it doesn’t even make a dent, of course – Sidr left so many dead, injured, homeless… but on a very small scale, for this one particular family, it could mean some income again and a return to a basic level of security. And it’s a way for people to connect in a personal way in the face of an otherwise anonymous disaster on the other side of the world.
If you’re interested in contributing a small amount to this little grassroots holiday project, we’ve asked the McFadden parents to handle processing of checks (made out to Jennifer McFadden or Ben Lamm, or both) or cash. They should be sent c/o Sheri McFadden, 19795 2325 Rd., Cedaredge, CO 81413. My mom will keep a running tally of the funds, and I can post updates on the running total as we hear back from people (and please let us know if you’d be willing to let us thank you by name on this blog!). If we can manage to collect more than the amount needed for a single cow, we think we can find other ways to use the money to help Sidr victims. We have been in touch with Habitat for Humanity Bangladesh about helping reconstruct housing later in the spring, and there are lots of other fund drives happening in various places throughout Dhaka. We’ll find a way to put it to good use – and of course we’ll keep you updated with pictures and blog posts throughout the process. We hope to hear from some of you! (Email us at jenniferlamm at gmail.com or ben_lamm at hotmail.com if you have questions, comments or suggestions - about this or anything else!)
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