KHULNA, Oct 27: Khaleda Begum, 32, resides at village Southkhali under Sharonkhola Upazila of Bagerhat district. She lost six members of her family including her son and other relatives in super cyclone Sidr on November-15, 2007.
She recalled emotionally, "We did not know about the preparedness for a disaster, not received any pre-cautionary signal during that time. But now we know how to face disaster and be prepared for it." She is now a member of Southkhali Union Disaster Resilient Coastal Centre and is not only a member but also the president of the centre.
The people of the coastal area of the country are very vulnerable due to the climate changes. The marginal and poor people of the coastal area who live on collecting natural resources are the most sufferers. To create awareness among them about disaster management Jagroto Jubo Shangho (JJS) an NGO is providing training programme under the project of "Strengthening Resilient and Reducing Vulnerable Coastal Communities in Bangladesh" with the assistance of European Union in 12 unions of six coastal areas of Khulna and Bagerhat districts.
300 women in 12 circles of each union have been trained on literacy and disaster reduction. After getting training they are now members of Disaster Resilient Centre. A total of 3600 women directly and their spouses indirectly have been trained through 'reflect method' about the awareness of disaster management.
Executive Director of JJS Zakir Hossain said that Bangladeshis situated at disaster prone area. For this reason the people of the coastal areas should be trained on disaster management
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