Chitalmari Area Development Programme (ADP) is situated in a remote, rural area of Bagerhat District, southwestern Bangladesh, about 220 kilometres south of Dhaka, the capital city. The programme includes 122 villages and benefits approximately 140,000 people.

In partnership with World Vision, the Chitalmari community has identified their greatest needs. World Vision is working with them to improve their lives in these areas.

Agriculture and income generation

More than half the working population is involved in agriculture and prawn cultivation. Local crops include rice, tomatoes, coconuts, beans and watermelons. Yields are low because of traditional farming methods and poor soil condition, causing most households to experience food shortages. Half of the land is adversely affected by sea water from the nearby Bay of Bengal. Lowland areas are frequently flooded during the rainy season, so farmers must seek alternative methods of earning income such as casual labouring or bamboo crafts. Some families migrate to other areas in search of employment.

Chitalmari ADP promotes vegetables to improve nutrition and provides good quality seed. It uses demonstration plots and farmers’ field days to introduce modern animal husbandry and farming techniques such as composting. To increase incomes, World Vision teaches sewing, computing, food preservation and marketing.

Health

There are insufficient government health facilities, medicines and health professionals in Chitalmari. Malnutrition and diarrhoea are common. Babies are generally born in unhygienic conditions, putting mothers and children at risk of infection. Most households use pond or river water for drinking and cooking, causing ill health due to waterborne diseases and poisoning by naturally occurring arsenic.

World Vision trains and equips traditional birth attendants and volunteer health workers and provides medical supplies for health centres. It holds community events to promote nutrition, basic healthcare, immunisation and HIV prevention.

The ADP trains water and sanitation committees to clean, manage and maintain water sources. It supplies water filters to reduce arsenic and educates the community on how to prevent arsenic poisoning.

Community leadership

World Vision trains community leaders in leadership and project management skills so they can run development activities. Village disaster management committees learn to prevent and respond to emergency situations.

Most community members belong to World Vision-established development groups where they learn about gender and child rights, small business management and leadership skills. They regularly contribute small amounts of money to a pooled fund, from which they can later borrow for personal needs or to establish small businesses.

Education

Although 90 per cent of children enrol in primary school, many drop out due to distance from school, parents’ poor understanding of education or the need to help at home or work. Few girls complete secondary school as they often marry between 13 - 16 years old. There are insufficient classrooms and teaching is of poor quality.

The ADP constructs and repairs classrooms and supplies textbooks and furniture. It provides stationery, rewards top students and teaches parents about the importance of education. World Vision also runs after school coaching classes and adult literacy classes.

Faith

Just over 60 per cent of the population of Chitalmari is Muslim and the remainder Hindu. The ADP holds workshops to facilitate inter-religious dialogue.

Sustainable development

world Vision started the Chitalmari Area Development Programme in 1991, and is empowering the community to drive the development work so it is sustainable. World Vision helps local groups to manage this work until they are able to do it themselves.

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