Untold stories

On the night of May 19, 2020, just three days before the Eid-ul-Fitr, most of the residents slept peacefully in their tiny mud houses resided in Ward No. 6, Hajrakhali, Sreeula, Ashashuni, Satkhira.

“When I hear the massive sounds of the storm or cyclone, I get terrified. I am blind but not deaf. I can hear people screaming, things falling apart."

Almost one-third of the total population in Bangladesh living in the coastal belts meaning the disaster-prone region are directly or indirectly affected by devastating climate impact such as coastal floods, river-bank erosion, salinity, cyclones, etc.

In 2009, when Cyclone Aila hit the area, Rojina Begum (24) was merely a child. As she recalls, “That was the last year I attended school. We lost most of our land, and our house broke down. 

Barek Tila is located in Tahirpur Upazila of Sunamganj district, at the border of Bangladesh and India.

In recent years, the amount of yearly rainfall has increased by almost three times in the villages resided at Tahirpur Border area, Sunamganj, Sylhet.

To make ends meet, Mst. Sharifa (40) works as a day labourer at a roadside brickfield earning a daily wage of 350 Taka. With such insignificant income, she has to take care of three of her children.