The help was not a real help

I met a young couple whose household properties were completely damaged by the cyclone Sidr. A NGO gave them a house which was much smaller than the previous one, and the house was badly built. Apart from the house, they received no other help. They were living without kitchen, garden, and job -- they had all these before the cyclone. Why they could not get the help which might not be the same but be similar to their previous ones. Why did not they feel empowered to ask the NGO to have the help similar to their lost ones? Before the planning for the help they had not been bothered asking their suggestions.

Whose Plan?

When a poor person needs help in developing countries, who do the planning? The governments and NGOs. The development planners from these sources by using their experiences and skills do the planning. Once the outcome of the planning is accepted by donor agencies, all parties -- governments, NGOs and development planners -- are satisfied. But one party, probably the most important one, the poor person remains unsatisfied. The assistance comes according to the plan cannot replace the person's real loss. Then you can argue, the help is not a real help.

Are all helps equal?

In the last August 2007, I visited cyclone Sidr-affected areas in Bangladesh. Following an informal methodology, I talked to many cyclone-affected people. Having received in-time relief and rehabilitation assistances, many of them was found happy. But also some of the people was found unhappy. The later group of people was overlooked by relief and rehabilitation providers as they lived in remote part of affected area. There was another group of people who were unhappy having low quality of assistances that looked feeble to support a normal storm. Why all the affected people did not get, may not equal, near to equal asistances?