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Marooned but not broken

Rafiq Hasan, back from Comilla
They are very poor, their homes are submerged for weeks, crops damaged in the fields, daily income stopped, and still they are not ready to accept relief.
A group of women standing in kneedeep water in Ramchand-rapur, a remote village about 60 off Comilla town, said they did not go anywhere for relief as they are the members of Grameen Bank.
"We did not go to the government for relief because we are the members of the Grameen Bank," said Kalpana Rani. Others nodded in agreement.
The women gathered at a Grameen Bank mobile camp set up at a makeshift house and stood in knee-deep water finding no higher ground in the entire area.
The flooding marooned them in submerged houses and forced the men members of their families, stopped from an income, to go fishing in floodwaters abound with fish from local fisheries.
The Grameen Bank extended its helping hand to such members reeling from weeks of monsoon flooding. The members would repay the loan after the flooding eases and they rebuild life.
"Since I became a member of the bank 12 years back, I did not know what poverty is," said Geeta Rani Barman of Jelepara under Ramchandrapur union. "We are in hardship, we need some assistance to overcome this crisis, but we don't need relief."
Most women took loan from Tk 5,000 to Tk 1,00000 to set up small-scale businesses and they now earn good
sums of money a month selling dried fish, garments, ornaments and iron tools.
Although flood stopped their activities, they are not worried much as the bank suspended taking weekly installments when flooding began last month.
Deputy Managing Director of the bank Depal Chandra Barua went to the area along with other high officials and gave assistance to flood affected members in the union under Muradnagar in Comilla on Wednesday. The assistance packet contained 10 kg of rice, one kg of pulses, five packets of oral saline and four water purification tablets.
The bank has allocated Tk 60 crore for providing such assistance to its over 13.05 lakh members who have been affected by the current flood. Barua said similar food assistance was going on in all flood affected areas. The bank was distributing food assistance to its flood affected members while the medical team was giving health assistance to all the flood affected people.
Grameen Bank Area Commander Horihor Chandra said the food assistance programme of the bank during the flood was very successful as 99 percent of the money spent during 1998 flood was paid back after the flood.
A large number of women and children also gathered at a nearby mobile health camp set up by Grameen Kallayan. Most of women and children are suffering from skin diseases, dysentery, diarrhoea and other waterborne diseases, said the medical officer of the health camp.
Over 200 people visit the camp every day for medical advice, they said.
"Around 30 percent of the patients are suffering from dysentery, or diarrhoea," said Dr Mian Mohammad Nurul Monir of the camp. He feared a diarrhoea epidemic in the wake of the recession of floodwaters until the government took adequate measures.
The Grammen Kallayan arranged five mobile teams bringing together government and private doctors on emergency basis. They also provide medicine to the worst victims and the members of the Grameen bank.
The bank distributed over 2.14 lakh in oral saline among the flood victims.