Catalyst: In the Wake of the Great Bhola Cyclone (2014) by Cornelia Rohde is about the cyclone Bhola, one of the deadliest in recorded history, which hit the Bay of Bengal in November 1970. Based on original field notes, research, interviews and memoirs, this book tells the true story of how a group of friends reacted to the insurmountable human crisis that the cyclone left in its wake.
On November 12, 1970, the cyclone Bhola, with a twenty-feet high wall of water, hit the low-lying southern islands of the Bay of Bengal. The inhabitants of the islands, and their livestock, possessions and houses were all swept away. Most of the elderly, sick people, and women and children perished. Only those strong enough to climb up palm trees high enough, and with the strength to hold on, survived. When the storm subsided, both land and water were littered with corpses. This was the most devastating natural disaster that has ever hit Bangladesh, with an estimated loss of life of about half a million. This book records the aftermath.
The first chapter of the book is about how the author came to live in Bangladesh and also how she and her friends were involved in the post-cyclone rehabilitation process. Cornelia Rohde and her husband Dr Jon Rohde had been living in Dhaka for more than two years at the time when the cyclone struck. Jon had been working with ICDDR,B. During their time in Dhaka, the couple had built a good network of friends. Catalyst is the story of how these friends came together and carried out a relief operation. This operation later became a long-term relief and rehabilitation program in the island of Monpura. This book contains their carefully preserved diaries, notes and photographs from this time. There are also many interviews of people who were affected by the cyclone personally, as well as people like Father Richard Timm, who had lived and worked in East Pakistan since 1952 and was a respected figure at the time, and Fazle Hasan Abed, who had greatly assisted in the relief operations.
Initially, Rohde and her friends decided to get in contact with Abed to ask him for help. At the time, he worked for Shell Pakistan. They contacted about thirty-five people and asked them for donations, and then with that money they flew to Chittagong and stayed in Abed’s Pak-Shell issued house. Abed invited people from the Rotary and Lions Club as well as executives from Shell to tell Rohde how they could get involved in relief work. At this meeting, they raised money and also the idea to use this money for sending relief materials bought from Chittagong by organizing a team of volunteers called HELP and sending the materials with them. Their goal was to make sure the materials went directly to the hands of the survivors. These materials included cooking utensils, clothes, rice, milk, matches and fuel. Initially, this relief was being provided to Sandwip island. The team then expanded by providing relief to Hatiya. The number of volunteers and donors continued to increase.
They then decided to go toward Monpura with Jon and some volunteers. They found a golden land with washed up corpses and carcasses. However, there were a few survivors. They provided the survivors with food and milk. The team then decided to airdrop cooked meals. This plan was successful, and they were able to provide food to many more people. The food was being cooked at Abed’s house and then airdropped. They contacted the German Red Cross who decided to help provide clean water. American helicopters also came to provide relief to Monpura.
After providing immediate relief, the next goal was to help restore normal life and rehabilitate the affected people. This was done by carrying out a census to determine exactly how many survivors there were and what they would need. Daily food requirements needed to be scheduled for procurement, delivery, inventory and distribution. The third goal was to promote self-sustaining development programs on an aided self-help basis.
HELP volunteers helped the people of Monpura to grow crops, and rebuild their houses, their families and livelihoods. The inhabitants began to be over-reliant on HELP over time. In 1973, HELP was replaced and the Bangladesh government took over. However, a study conducted by Dhaka University on the aftermath of the cyclone in Monpura states that the cooperative system was a good institutional base for community development activities by and it guided people to participate in community and development work.
Catalyst is a story about how the choices we make and the actions we take define our lives. It illustrates a story of loss, but at the same time, about how times of loss can give people purpose and how they are capable of achieving a lot in spite of this loss.
Preeti Huq is a student at Brac University. She writes fiction, opinion pieces and, occasionally, book reviews.
