Coronavirus, Amphan snatch Eid joy from coastal children

The joy of Eid has been snatched away from the children of the country’s southern region. Schools have been closed for nearly two months now because of coronavirus. Lower income families are struggling to feed their children.

Children of the middle class families are bored and frustrated at having to remain indoors. And then the cyclone Amphan struck, bringing more chaos to their lives. It has not been a joyful Eid for these children.

Having to rush with their families to the cyclone shelters to save themselves from the fury of Amphan, spending the night in fear and terror, then returning to their homes devastated by the tidal surge and storm, all has taken toll on the children. Child experts say this has had a deep mental impact on them.

Parents in Barisal town lamented that the simple joys of Eid has been snatched away by the calamities. The children had missed out on dressing up in new clothes, going to the mosque for Eid prayers, visiting friends and family and enjoying Eid delicacies, going to the parks and such fun and recreation.

Fatima Rahman, a 32-year-old resident of Bangladesh Bank intersection in Barisal town, said, “When will this all end? The childen are getting suffocated staying at home. My three daughters haven’t stepped out for almost three months now. They are getting irritable and are losing interest in everything, often sitting listlessly in silence. I feel terrible to see them like this. I feel so helpless.”

Fatima’s youngest girl is 6 years old. She asked her mother, “Won’t you buy me new clothes this Eid? Won’t we go out?” Her questions bring tears to Fatima’s eyes.

According to the Barisal division health director’s office, there are 2,254,078 children of the 0 to 10-year-old age group in the Barisal division. Of these, 215,000 are of the 0 to15-month age group.

Officials of the Barishal field office of UNICEF said that as it is the children of the coastal regions do not receive the required amount of nutrition. They are now facing further risk as the coronavirus outbreak has cut down on the income of the families. And cyclone Amphan has simply made matters worse.

Hena Begum, a 32-year-old resident of Nabagram Road in Barishal town, has a 5-year-old daughter. Hena’s husband is a rickshaw-puller. With their earnings dwindling in the coronavirus circumstances, it is hard for them to manage proper meals. They haven’t been able to feed their child anything beyond the very basics over the past three months.

Day labourer Alam Miah (35) of the village Joyalbhanga in Taltali upazila, Barguna, said, “Our daughter is 8 years old. I buy her news clothes every Eid, but how can I this time? I have no earnings because of corona. And then there has been the cyclone. We can hardly have normal meals, how can we think of celebrating Eid?”

While the country’s southern belt is no stranger to devastating cyclones, the impact this time has been even worse due to the prevailing coronavirus pandemic. The people are grappling to cope with the disaster, faced with uncertainty. The children are the most helpless.

Unicef divisional head AH Towfique Ahmad, speaking to Prothom Alo on Saturday, said that with the food shortage in families, this will certainly affect children’s nutrition, affecting their development. The children had to go to the cyclone shelters. This has been psychologically traumatic for them.

He said, “Among the middle and upper class families, the parents or caregivers should try to keep their children engaged at all times. They should be involved in exercise, creative work, stories and such. We are carrying out surveys in the field to see what can be done.”

*This report, originally published in Prothom Alo Bangla online, has been rewritten in English by Ayesha Kabir