Window on the World

Your tsunami
dollars at work …

By Randal Dick

I would like to update you on what is being done with the remainder of the funds that were donated in response to the devastating tsunami last Dec. 26.

The foundation is being prepared for the typhoon-tsunami shelter. Laborers carry tons of earth on their backs to the site until a strong, compacted elevated foundation is in place.

It is hard to imagine the one-year anniversary of the deadly earthquake and tsunami that devastated so much is drawing near so quickly. We, in the United States, had no idea that our hearts, which went out to the victims, would soon also be burdened with the destruction caused by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Many members expressed concern for the tsunami victims by donating to various relief funds. The money that came to the WCG was used first and foremost to help the members and churches affected by the tsunami.

This building has housed more than 100 people at a time—not comfortably, but dry and safe from the floodwaters. In the foreground excited children try out their new umbrellas in an impromptu umbrella parade. [Photos by John Biswas and Rod Matthews]

When all members had been accounted for, and those with homes destroyed had been helped to rebuild, we looked for the best tsunami-related use for the comparatively small remaining funds.

Since part of helping tsunami victims and potential victims is helping them prepare for the next tsunami instead of waiting until after the damage is done, helping build a tsunami and flood shelter on the southern coast of Bangladesh seemed like the perfect fit.

In hurricanes Katrina and Rita combined, about 1,175 lives were lost.

Bangladesh, although spared the worst of the tsunami because of the orientation of the coastline, has lost 248,000 people to typhoons and flooding over the past 10 years.

This is typhoon-prone land. The children pictured were given
umbrellas for their families. This looks cute, but the flooding is deadly.

This is a typical family dwelling for the poor. The slightest wind leaves them homeless. Sometimes the floodwaters remain for three or more weeks. This is partly why Bangladesh death tolls from typhoons are so high. Schools are not much different from the houses where children live.

They do not have hundreds of government helicopters to extract people from the floodwaters. They simply have to survive as best they can. Because so much of southern Bangladesh is low-lying, the floodwaters coming from the north can cover the land for weeks on end.

With all this in mind, our leaders in Bangladesh are overseeing the construction of a reinforced building designed to withstand a tsunami and to remain high and dry in most of the typhoons and floods.

You can see by the photos that it is not going to be the Superdome, but it will probably save hundreds if not thousands of lives over the years to come. In addition, it will be used seven days a week to assist in the rescue of spiritual lives.

This is an expensive building by Bangladeshi standards. Most of the extra cost is from the unusually high foundation and the reinforcement of the structure itself.

The foundation pictured was paid for by the tsunami funds. A bit more that is available will fund the framing and initial structure.

I won’t take up any additional space with text so that you can enjoy the story told by the photographs. Thank you for your generosity that is making this life-saving project happen.

When it is not used as a flood shelter (which is most of the time)
the building is used to:

Educate poor rural children of all faiths	Provide pastoral training (commissioning service of new Bangladeshi pastor)
Conduct worship services	Train nurses to give home health-care education and nurture the sick

More and more Bangladeshis are becoming disciples—
brothers and sisters in Christ.

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