Mennonite Central Committee

Ten Thousand Villages helps artisans battered by Cyclone Sidr

Rick Fast
December 3 2007

WINNIPEG, Man. -- Ten Thousand Villages Canada is contributing $6,000 to help survivors of the recent cyclone in Bangladesh.

The funds will help artisans in the Agailjhara region of the country recover from the affects of Cyclone Sidr which tore into Bangladesh’s southwestern coast on November 15, 2007.

Trees in the Agailjhara region were uprooted, crops ruined and many of the houses -- made of straw and bamboo with tin roof -- were flattened.

“We have a deep, ongoing relationship with the artisans in the area, going back more than 20 years,” says Bev Hiebert, a spokesperson for Ten Thousand Villages. “When we heard how badly they were affected we simply wanted to respond in some way.”

Ten Thousand Villages -- a fair trade organization-- purchases a variety of handmade paper and handmade paper items from artisan groups in the Agailjhara region, as well as henna kits, terra cotta pots, jute and hemp products and more.

The contribution will be given to Mennonite Central Committee which is organizing a $500,000 response to help cyclone survivors in southern Bangladesh, including rebuilding up to 1,500 houses. Ten Thousand Villages is a program of MCC.
MCC, through the Canadian Food Grains Bank, will also help provide food for 10,000 families for one month. More families are likely to receive food as MCC Bangladesh establishes additional distribution channels.
December 3, 2007