Water is life – except when that water is slowly killing you. This is the reality for millions of women in coastal Bangladesh who are subjected to reproductive health issues due to rising sea levels.
On a crisp September morning 14 years ago, I climbed down the riverbank with my fishing net and stepped into the water like I did every day. The familiar burning and itching greeted my skin as I dipped into the murky water of the Pashur river in Mongla, southwestern Bangladesh.
The water was cleaner here even just two years ago, when I married my husband and moved to live with him here in his hometown – the tiny fishing village of Chilabazar. In the two years following the move, I gave birth to a son, and got used to the life of a fisherman’s wife – which meant spending 8-10 hours neck-deep in the river to catch fish.
I held on to the fishing net with all my might and walked along the riverbed, only my hands and my head visible above the water. It was getting harder to find fish, and the only thought in my mind was that I needed to catch enough to make BDT 50 (USD 0.46) to buy rice for dinner.