The indigenous people in some of the most remote areas of Bangladesh live in a state of limbo; no one is willing to take responsibility for their well-being. Toiling everyday in the jhum fields in the remote hills, most of them have resigned to the fact that neither they nor their children would get any basic education or healthcare services during their lifetime. In a place where the nearest school or medical facility is almost a day's journey away, there is hardly any option to avail such basic human rights. If you hire an engine-boat and start a journey upstream in the Sangu River from Thanchi, you will come across only two or three schools in the local bazars. But Andharmanik – which is two days of boat journey away from Thanchi – is the last frontier; beyond here, there is no government or NGO-run education or medical facilities. Illiteracy and the lack of health awareness are invisible chains tethering the future of these communities. In the absence of opportunities, jhum cultivation becomes their only choice of living. The Dhaka Tribune recently visited remote areas in Thanchi's Remakree union to find that almost no children went to school and no one had access to medical services. Jhum cultivation for kids The kids in the remote indigenous communities either spent their time working in the jhum fields with their parents or by playing on the yards and the river. In the remote community of Young Naung Para, locals said in the history of the village there had been only one boy who managed to study up to HSC exams, but had to leave his own house to finish his education at a college in Bandarban's Ali Kadam upazila. The village head, Young Naung Karbari, told the Dhaka Tribune that around 15 children of the village have studied up to class two; but to do attend classes, they had to walk to the next village of Katangia Para where an NGO named Karitas Light House had a small school. In Loyakree Para, there is a school for 28 households. But only two children study there in class two. The school was informally set up in 2014 by the Turtle Research Centre, but villagers said the students had no books or paper. However, not all remote communities have the chance to send their kids to school. Mo Bayu, head of Malungia Para, said there was no school or healthcare facility for his village or the villages nearby. So, all children joined their parents in the jhum fields. Kayingpre Mro of May Thowaing Para, and Kya Swe Pru Karbari of Mro Gong Para said their villages shared similar fates. Ranglang Murong said education can change the face of the area and shape a better future for the children, who now had no other choice but to work in the fields. “No one from the union parishad comes to help us because we live in such a remote place. There is no one here who gets their basic rights,” said Silo Tripura of Surjyamoni Para. Jungle medicine and family planning In the hard-to-reach areas of the upazila, there are many people who have never even seen a doctor in their lifetimes. Forty-two-year-old Kya Swe Pru Karbari of Mro Gong Para told the Dhaka Tribune that it was only three years ago when he first visited a doctor for a blood test. Water-borne diseases are endemic in the region, while many children suffer from skin diseases. Even in cases of severe sickness, they have to rely on herbs and jungle medicine for cure. Apart from the obvious dilemmas of not having a doctor or medical facility nearby, the remote regions of Bandarban face another crisis – the lack of family planning awareness. “We have 11 households in our village, with each family having around six or more children,” Kya Swe said. “A child died during birth last month in the village. The mother was lucky to survive. She has six children; of them, three have died from diseases,” he added. Ren Chang Mro, a 27-year-old father of five from Loyakree Para, said the size of families was only getting bigger as people in the remote areas have no idea about birth control. “As a result, many problems arise. For example, we have many mouths to feed, meaning more crops have to be cultivated in a bigger land,” he said. Eighty-five-year-old Rui Moun has spent half of her life providing midwifery services to Young Noung Para. Rui, who never had any formal training in midwifery, admits it has been a tough journey as she had seen many deaths during childbirth. Through her struggles of a life in the remote hills, the octogenarian knows one thing – there is no end in sight for the sufferings for the indigenous communities.
Thursday, April 25, 2024
