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experience, floating cultivation becomes popular in this area. Now we don't have hostility with hyacinth."

But because Rahman Shaq's regular crop fields were now all underwater, he didn't have sufficient income. His wife, Anowara Begam, helped them break through the suffering. She is now rearing ducks confidently with a small investment.

Anowara Begam says: "Our family has been rearing ducks on a large scale since 2003. Samadan NGO (nongovernmental organization) taught us how we could properly rear ducks. They gave us good species of ducklings. Before this flood we had 75 ducks but now [we] only have 35. Forty ducks were washed away during the flood. Now my husband doesn't have specific income, but by the income from duck rearing we are now running well our family."

The story of Rahman Shaq's family creates inspiration to the villages and relatives whose cropland have become water land. Before 2000 this family was economically solvent. Over the first three years of flooding they became poor to poorer; even their house and assets were washed away. There was no hope. But the floating garden and duck rearing nowadays increases their confidence for sustainability.

How is the climate changing in this part of Bangladesh? Rahman Shaq answers: "[Over the] last ten years the climate has abruptly changed here. Before, we could not understand the changes, but now [we are] facing so many difficulties, [and] many new diseases also."

While visiting his water logged land by boat, Rahman Shaq explains the climate changes. "Even my forefathers can't remember flooding on this scale. That's why we set up home here. If I'd known growing up that there was such a risk of flooding I would never have built a house here. Now half of the year [there's] nothing [we] can do - we can not cultivate; but before we did three times per year.

"Each year the water level is rising, [and the] duration of water logging also is increasing. In 2000, our homes were flooded for 14 days. In 2003 it was a month. I fear this year the flood waters will stay for six months. It is now expected in [the] near future, we may be flooded for [the] whole year."

In this way the inhabitants on the bank of the Kopotakho River are living with and adapting to climate change. And they are using local knowledge in other ways to prepare for more disruptions.

To protect from storms like Cyclone Sidr, which killed thousands of Bangladeshis in November, house structures have been reinforced with the help of local NGOs. Within limited abilities, rural dwellers are making preparations and adapting spontaneously to face flooding each year. They try to make their homes as water-tight as possible. They put wood for cooking up in the roof or somewhere dry. They store dried foods to eat during floods.

Rahman Shaq's desire? "If we could make [a] fish farm in logged water, [that] would be [a] good income source."

Learn more about this author, Shahjahan Siraj.
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