A BMS World Mission relief grant is helping a Baptist school in Dhaka, Bangladesh recover from flood damage following the city’s highest rainfall for 60 years.The Baptist Mission Integrated School (BMIS) was seriously affected by over 33 centimetres (13 inches) of rain in just six hours at the end of July.
The school’s boundary wall collapsed and classrooms, dormitories and offices were flooded.
Many items including books, clothing, food and furniture were lost or spoiled, and kitchen and office equipment was destroyed.
BMS responded by sending a £10,000 relief grant to the school, which will pay for the repair of the wall, electrical lines and fittings, and will enable them to purchase new educational materials and equipment, including computers.
BMIS provides education for 200 sighted and non-sighted students and accommodates around 100 visually impaired girls on the site.
The school was established by BMS and is now part of the Social Health Education and Development Board of the Bangladesh Baptist Church Sangha.
Sylvia Santosree Mazumder, BMIS Principal, describes what happened on the night of 28 July. “Rainwater surged into the school compound, inundating the classrooms, office, teachers’ room, store, girls’ dormitory, kitchen, printing press, and guard room in waist-deep water within minutes.
“The sudden on-rush of water damaged educational materials, Braille books, clothing, utensils, water-pumps, classroom furniture, dining tables and benches, computers, cupboards, bedding and mattresses, and everything else on the ground floor that could not be saved.â€
David McLellan, BMS Manager for Mission Partnerships, says, “BMS has a long, historical connection with the mission school in Dhaka and we are only too pleased to support the team there at this time of crisis.
“The relief grant should enable the school to efficiently rebuild, re-equip and recover, and get back to normal again before too long.â€