Update from the Recovery Appeal
Recently, Shahed - our Country Director in Bangladesh - shared news of a nation in crisis. As we sent out the final email in our series, he told us that things are worse than we thought. As we look beyond the initial crisis, things may be worsening. He said… “With heavy heart and sheer frustration, I have to share with you that many people who have graduated from poverty during last couple of decades, are now falling back into poverty.” Coronavirus continues to threaten the progress we’ve made. For those who thought they had left poverty behind for good, the future is worrying. But change is possible in the darkest of situations. Shahed knows this well. Over the years he has been on the team we’ve seen hundreds of thousands of people take steps towards a better future - cooperatives formed, harvests improved, earnings increased, children educated and families fed. But now that progress is threatened. Extended lockdowns have left informal workers without food or income – and few options.
Debt bondage, the most common form of modern slavery, is widespread in his community, but things were changing before the pandemic – “We started working in various sectors after getting vocational training. We had started savings, but these have stopped in (the) current situation." With savings running out, coronavirus is forcing people in vulnerable communities to make impossible choices. Many face a return to debt bondage in order to survive the crisis. Others have lost homes, harvests and livelihoods due to lockdowns, factory closures, or in the recent floods. We need to respond now. DONATE NOW
Shahed explains more… “People are leaving Dhaka at an exponential rate, which is affecting many others who rely on renting out houses, apartments and huts. On top of this, a third of Bangladesh is now underwater because of flooding.
But together, we can change things.
Without government initiatives, poor people are in dire conditions. This is absolutely heart breaking.
Bharti, a labourer from Bangladesh, told us of the difference projects run by Traidcraft Exchange had begun to make.
People who were doing well only a few months back are now asking secretly for help. They are trying to sell everything they can, but there is no buyer.”
30 traidcraftshop.co.uk
