Shelter after the storm
Halim Hoawlader was a young man when he left his father’s house and settled on a small piece of land next to the Boleshar River. His father had eight sons and only a small homestead. After he got married, he moved there with his new wife – that was almost 29 years ago
"It was government land then. We did not even know how someone bought land from the government. Now we lease it every year from the owner," Halim tells us.
“God did not give me luck to own property. I never had land or a boat. I lived all my life on other people’s land and worked on other people’s boats. But I raised three sons and a daughter with my own labour,“ he adds. “It is hard to believe that I’ve lost the house I built with my own hand.”
Rebuilding after the cyclone
Halim’s house was right in the path of Cyclone Sidr. When the storm hit, his family took shelter in a friend’s house inside the embankment. He returned to find nothing but some scattered pieces of wood on his yard.
“Luckily no one died from our village. It happened at low tide. The water only lasted a few minutes. I did not think I had the energy to re-built my house again.”
Halim received 18 pieces of metal sheeting, screws, nails and timber from Oxfam to build his new house. Because of his carpentry experience, he also received a carpentry toolkit that will enable him to help others in the community rebuild their homes in return for a small fee.
“We have 26 households in this part of the village. 19 have received tin sheets from Oxfam. There are three of us from this village who also received carpentry tools and training. Now we will rebuild other people’s houses as well as our own. I have employed my nephew to help me.”
Life as ‘Umania’
After the cyclone, government officials came to Halim's village and selected three names of people who were interested in relocating to land that was being given out for the landless. Halim was not selected. He is not unhappy about that because government lands are usually far from the river. “We are fishing folk. We don’t know how to do other things. If we move far from the water, how will we live?”
“People call us “Umania” [people who live on others’ land] but everything on this land is my creation. I planted that tree. I built these plinths. I know I have to move out of this land if the owner wants me to. He is not even from this area. He has a house and land in another district. But I’ve lived here for so long, I don’t want to move.”
Halim can finish a house in two days. Within two weeks he will finish rebuilding all the houses allotted to him. He plans to go out to sea when the fishing season starts. “I am not a man to sit around. I can still work more than these young people,“ he explains. Pointing to his youngest son he adds, “I wish this house I am building was on a land of my own. Then I would feel I have left something for my son.”
Make a donation
Donate to Oxfam's Bangladesh Cyclone Appeal.
