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A few changes...


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In my first post I stated that I’d be working on a water and sanitation project in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Instead, I’ll now be working on primary health care in the Bagerhat district of Bangladesh due to a few team changes.
The area I’ll be working in is close to the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest and home to the Bengal tiger. The main crop is rice so there’ll be plenty of paddy fields. The area is known for being strongly affected by cyclones and for the arsenic contamination in its water supply.
Aside from the lack of access to primary health care, there are many other issues in need of development. Of primary concern to the youth of the village are access to clean, arsenic-free water; road construction; the high illiteracy rate; and access to markets. Having now arrived in the area, the good news is that the government is going to pave the road so they can access the village to build a much-needed cyclone shelter. As it stands, the road is incredibly muddy and almost impassable during the rainy season and even in the dry is not rickshaw friendly due to parts of it being completely sand.
Our main aim is to improve access to primary health care but obviously if a road is constructed then accessing the hospital for emergencies would be easier and improving the water and sanitation situation would help reduce some of the need for health care. Comprehensive primary health care also includes the provision of essential medication, treatment and prevention of diseases (including immunisation) and education concerning prevailing health problems and methods of preventing or controlling them. Access to maternal and child health care, including family planning, is also incredibly important.
All in all, it’s a fairly massive task and not a long time in which to complete it. We won’t be able to do all of this in the time allotted hence why we work with local volunteers who will increase their capacity to do this work themselves and carry it on with the next batch of ICS volunteers.


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