Swandip School & Cyclone Shelter

Through your generous donations, SHEBI helped build a 4-story school that doubles as an emergency shelter. The shelter can withstand annual monsoons and severe cyclones, thereby providing people with adequate shelter when they are most in need. The building also serves as a school and allows students a permanent place of study. This project was of significant value both in terms of cost effectiveness and usefulness to the local population.

Every year, Bangladeshis have to contend with the monsoons. Water washes over the land and homes are swept away, crops are destroyed, lives are lost, and people who have little to begin with are left with nothing. Most of these people don’t leave the area because they have no choice but to stay. They may not have the money or the means to move but many are farmers and must remain nearby.

In the coastal areas of Bangladesh it makes sense to build schools as solid concrete structures so that they can serve the dual purpose of a storm shelter during cyclones and hurricanes that ravage the southern parts of Bangladesh like Sandwip, Bhola, and Patuakhali.