Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

U. Iowa talk details challenges for Bangladesh
By Ashton Shurson
The Daily Iowan (U. Iowa)
03/11/2008

(U-WIRE) IOWA CITY, Iowa — While Iowa has seen its fair share of natural disasters, including the flood of 1993 and the relatively recent tornado in 2006, it would be hard to imagine the possible consequences of these storms if the population were 50 times larger.

But every year in Bangladesh — a country slightly smaller than Iowa with a population of 150 million — the country faces massive flooding from high rainfalls and water.

University of Iowa geography graduate student Luke Juran spoke about the floods and "Coping with natural disasters in Bangladesh" in front of a crowd of roughly 30 people Monday afternoon. The speech was a part of the UI's International Mondays.

Juran traveled through Bangladesh for a month during the summer of 2007 with students and teachers from around the state. He traveled thanks to a grant from the Geographic Alliance of Iowa in attempts to learn more about the country and spread the word about its hardships and living situations.

"They know about us, and we don't know about them," Juran said.

Bangladesh is prone to flooding because of monsoon rains, rivers entering Bangladesh, cyclones, and sea surges, he said. These problems create a vast range of consequences for the country, including landslides and mudslides, erosion, polluted water, and overwhelmed infrastructure.

Many Bangladeshis also face waterborne and vector-borne diseases and snake bites.

Besides health and environmental consequences, the natural disasters also take a toll on social issues as well, Juran said. Religious burial rituals in unworkable muddy land, transportation, and housing displacement are just a few of the problems the floods bring up, he added.

In addition, school cancellation is a difficulty because the country already faces very low literacy rates.

"My first suggestion for Bangladesh is for everybody to get educated," said Rex Honey, a UI geography professor who also went on the trip. Only 32 percent of females and 54 percent of males are literate.

After Juran spoke, Iowa City resident Mary Gravitt spoke out against people hoping the U.S. government will help with Bangladesh's crises.

"Individual people can contribute individual knowledge but relying on the federal government is the worst thing you can do," she said.

Juran said that after his long trip and studies, his admiration for the way Bangladeshis face their hardships was what he really took back.

"Daily, they are faced with issues outside of their control and they deal with it with smile," he said.

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