What is time poverty?

We've all said it... "there's just not enough time in the day!" Our lives are packed full, juggling work and family life. But imagine if on top of all that, you had to search for fuel and harvest your own crops to cook breakfast, walk miles to source water each day, repair your house which is continually eroded by flooding... what time would be left to focus on you?

Low income means less investment in the basic infrastructure of our lives, meaning people become time poor. Time poverty is linked to lower wellbeing, physical health and productivity. Ultimately lack of time stops people improving their circumstances, making it much more difficult to rise above poverty. It's a vicious cycle.

“The most difficult part of my day is collecting food to feed my cows. I walk between the padi (rice) fields, cutting grass for a couple of hours, every day after breakfast. It’s back breaking in the heat.”

— Ranu, Bangladesh

This burden falls disproportionately on women, who often face additional responsibilities at home. On an average day, women spend three times as many hours on unpaid domestic and care work as men. Too busy to visit the doctor, go to school, or earn money to support their family.

At AzuKo, we recognise this invisible currency, and help reduce the time it takes to complete 'unpaid work' in the home. We teach housing design ideas and share products that are more efficient, and we promote construction materials and techniques that require less maintenance, last longer and have high returns (cheaper over time). Read about our construction training in Bangladesh →

An extra hour saved each day, over the course of a year, would free up more than two weeks. Over a lifetime that would mean three years – precious time to build a brighter future.

Imagine what you could do with that extra time?

Author: J. Ashbridge

Our community-led approach

Over a quarter of Bangladesh's population live in towns and cities. Rapid urbanisation, coupled with limited financial and physical capacity, has put significant strain on these areas.

To date, the Government of Bangladesh has mostly ignored the growth of informal settlements, or reacted by evicting squatters. New approaches to the urban context are needed.

“Throughout the world, slums upgrading is often done through investments in neighbourhood improvement that result in de facto security of tenure for the urban poor. This in turn allows families to incrementally improve their shelter conditions, thereby improving human capital, and leading to synergies in savings, employment and poverty reduction, and gradually incorporating informal settlements into city development.”

— Pro-poor slums integration / The World Bank

Global experiences show that slums upgrading requires strong engagement from urban poor communities for a number of reasons.

1. Slums and informal settlements are unique and dynamic. No single solution is suitable for all situations. Engagement is essential to create locally relevant and appropriate solutions.

2. Government delivery and private sector engagement can crowd out the poor. A community-led approach ensures that those involved in designing and implementing initiatives are also the beneficiaries.

3. As governments are slow to address urban improvements for slums, community-led approaches are often the only alternative.

We've been working with residents of Jogen Babu Maath slum, in Bangladesh, since 2010. Together with the community committee we’re mobilising residents, providing training, encouraging financing/saving, and improving infrastructure.

Author: J. Ashbridge

A complex road to recovery

As of 12th October, official reports show 379,738 confirmed coronavirus cases in Bangladesh and 5,555 related deaths. It ranks 16th most affected country in the world. However, the situation in-country feels very different. The cost of coronavirus tests and the potential implications of being seen as ‘COVID-positive’ mean many go untested. We don’t know the true scale or spread of the virus.

But coronavirus is just one of the many challenges people are facing. Lockdown has resulted in extreme food shortages. Labourers rely on their daily wage to put food on the table. Without work, there is none. There’s been violence between police and communities. Child abuse has increased and we’re seeing a serious impact on mental health.

In May, super-cyclone ‘Amphan’ hit the coast, travelling north across the country. 10 million people were affected, 330,000 houses damaged and 55,600 destroyed. People had to choose whether to stay in their homes and brave the cyclone or find a shelter and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with 1,500 people, at a time when they were being told to social distance. At least 100,000 people were displaced and forced to stay on embankments. 118 people lost their lives.

Reports estimate damage to electricity grids, schools, bridges, embankments, roads, drinking water sources, and community infrastructure, at a cost of £130 million.

Then, as communities began to rebuild after Amphan, the monsoon rains came and didn’t stop. In June, another tragedy hit. The mighty Brahmaputra River burst its banks, submerging up to 37% of the country. Nearly a million homes were inundated, affecting 4.7 million people. At least 135 have died, most of them children.

Coronavirus, Amphan and monsoon have collided to create complex crises, the effects being felt most heavily by the poorest, particularly those in the informal sector. These ‘black swan’ events are no longer once-in-a-lifetime challenges, but increasing in number and severity.

I recently heard the term ‘Project Everyone’ referring to the Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs (the global commitment to peace and prosperity for all). It has never felt more true and more necessary. Governments, public, private and third sectors, we all need to contribute. The road to recovery in Bangladesh is long, the road to an equitable world much longer.

AzuKo will continue to serve those who are disproportionately affected by coronavirus. We exist to ensure they do not fall further in between the cracks.

So far we have:

• delivered vital hygiene supplies to 2,990 families without access to the basics – soap, sanitiser, disinfectant, face masks and other PPE

• reached over 27,000 with our virus prevention campaign (sharing information for how to keep safe) via audio rickshaws, leaflets and community banners

• trained our frontline staff, volunteers and heads of 14 wards in best practice, including hand washing techniques and dispelling COVID myths and rumours

• provided protective equipment (PPE) for our frontliners

Read more about our coronavirus response

Thank you to all our supporters who continue to make our work possible. It has been a challenging few months but we march on, determined to play our part.

Author: Jo Ashbridge