The current focus of SAFEs activities are in the Sundarban Union, an area with a population of approximately 30,000 people lying midway between the towns of Saidpur and Dinajpur. Although Dinajpur does not suffer from the severe storms that affect the coastal region of the country, localized flooding does often occur and strong winds in September
and October regularly cause damage to houses. Dinajpur also lies in the highest earthquake risk zone in
Bangladesh. Dinajpur’s economy depends largely on agriculture, the area being famous for its rice. Approximately 40% of its population are landless labourers. It also has a Muslim Hindu and some treble population, SAFE is a small NGO consisting of 3full time staff. It has been officially been operating for 5year and six months with support primarily from Housing and Hazards, an international group of building professionals working to promote affordable hazard resistant housing. SAFEs founder however, Azit Roy, has been involved in low cost housing projects for over 14 years. He has worked with Housing and Hazards since 1997 when he helped to pilot a series of building for safety workshops in collaboration with shelter after disaster specialist Ian Davis. He has also worked with. Local institutions BRAC University and Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology and
as a consultant on post disaster housing projects in the south of Bangladesh for UNDP, Oxfam and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). In 2007 he was involved in the construction of a school made from mud and bamboo (www.annaheringer.com/index.php?id=31) in the Dinajpur region which has since won the Agha Khan award for architecture. Pulin Roy, the Program coordinator, has a background of NGO work in health and education sectors since studying at the Social Leadership Institute of Xavier University in the Philippines. SAFE has successfully run ‘building for safety’ workshops and tree planting projects. Their latest workshop was hosted in partnership with Housing and Hazards and RedR UK (www.redr.org.uk) in which 15 international participants teamed up with local builders, the local community and BRAC university students to construct a demonstration house. Having operated for several years and being run by members of the local community SAFE is trusted and respected in the work that it does. Its’ staff are charismatic and popular members of that community and they are well placed to successfully implement this program.
