Mud to Mortar: Improving Health in Bangladesh from the Ground Up

Setting the scene we find Jamal, a fishmonger in a semi-urban area of Bangladesh stepping inside his home which is constructed of corrugated metal sheets for the walls and roof, with a dirt floor. His face turns pale as he sits beside his sickly firstborn Ananya. Ananya’s mother, barefoot, is applying a wet cloth to her daughter’s forehead. She laments to her husband that despite all their efforts Ananya is not getting better. Jamal assures her that everything will be okay since they have bought medicine and nutritious food.

The next scene cuts to Jamal outside of the home among members of his community and he meets a doctor who is spreading a message about the importance of housing on health. Jamal has a conversation with Dr. Mozammel, who agrees to visit Jamal’s daughter. The doctor surveys the home and examines Ananya. He tells Jamal that Ananya is suffering from respiratory disease and diarrhea. Rahela, Ananya’s mother tells the doctor that they keep themselves clean and their house clean. Dr. Mozammel agrees that these steps are crucial to staying healthy but the dirt floor could very well be the source of the diseases.

The main message summarized near the end of the video is that a majority of homes in Bangladesh have floors that are often made of compacted dirt. Dust is kicked up in the dry season, and cow dung, which is often used as a coating over dirt floors can harbor germs. In the rainy season, puddles can develop, which can be a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Diarrhea, a leading killer of children in low-income countries, spreads more easily in homes with dirt floors, as do respiratory and parasitic diseases. Because cleaning the floors is so difficult, fecal matter brought in on shoes or from dirty water spilled indoors tends to stay put, and children are especially likely to ingest it.

The final scene shows Jamal and his family having lunch on the ground (common cultural practice) at their home which now has a new concrete floor.