BARGUNA, Bangladesh – After a cyclone hit Bangladesh in November, OBI’s Kumar Periasamy went to the region to help distribute aid and make sure four water purification systems were installed properly in the hardest hit areas. The units are providing clean water for more than 12,000 people.

Early in the morning I was woken up by a call to prayer. It was 5:30 and it was still misty and cold outside. It made me wonder how people in the tents made it through the night. I went to check on the water units and I saw another non-governmental agency distributing relief items close to where the water units were placed. Just as I placed my camera gear on the ground, an old woman, very fragile, touched my knee and said, “Son, can you help me?”

I sat next to her and asked what I could do. She began to pour her heart out. With tears in her eyes she said, “I have been waiting here since 5 in the morning, hoping that someone would help me. I have not received much help. Each time I came to collect items being given away, the younger ones beat me to it. I am too fragile to stand in line and no one seems to hear my cry. She went on to say she had three sons; two died some years back and the one who was taking care of her died during the cyclone.“I have never seen anything like this in my life – water sweeping away homes and families,” she said. “My son has two small children, they can’t work and my daughter-in-law is weeping all the time.”“At this age, I feel I have to support them,” she said. “I had to come and beg people to help me but no one is hearing me.”

I touched grandma Sophia’s arm and comforted her. She began to cry and said, “I just want to die, I can’t take this. It’s not worth living.”

Controlling my emotions, I told her that God loves her and He will take care of her. I asked what she needed and wanted and her reply was a pot to cook rice and some blankets.
Without wasting much time, I purchased some cooking pots and blankets. She was shocked when I gave them to her. I told her that friends around the world loved her and this was a gift from them to her.

Wiping the tears away she said, “May God bless you.”

Later I sent some food supplies to her home.

More and more heart-wrenching stories from people who have lost their loved ones arise. Operation Blessing is making a difference in the lives of these cyclone victims. Listening to their cries, touching them with compassion and providing for their needs.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 4th, 2008 at 3:54 pm and is filed under Asia, Bangladesh, Kumar Periasamy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.