In Bihar, a state known for economic distress and political polarization, a group of middle aged men rose above the situation and started a relief camp with practically no resources but their own.

Kishore and his colleagues are members of a D.L college governing body, and have never done a disaster management course nor have they ever been trained by a relief organisation but what they have is a ‘human touch and conviction to help people in need’.

And they went ahead to respond to the demanding situation.

When these men saw thousands of people with their children and animals being chased away by the floodwaters and marching in search of help, Kishore said to his colleagues, “we could, at our capacity help and provide a solution”.

The college is situated along the highway connecting Madhepura and Saharsa town, and was therefore witness to the great exodus and suffering people who were walking with no food, no water and in desperate need of clothes and shelter. Some of them were sick, one in three children had boils or some sort of skin disease, and to top it all, the heat and humidity was making good health a further challenge for the flood-affected families, especially children.

The first two days at the college camp were chaotic. Kishore and his men had to take out money from the college funds and their own pocket to provide for the needs of the homeless. “We had to feed five hundred plus women, men and children”, said Sushil Kumar, Kishore’s colleague.

In the college campus, there are two big cooking pots fueled by a fire. Kishore’s men kept the fire burning in the community kitchen where World Vision provided cooked food including rice, lentils (dal), vegetables and salt during the first few days after the flood. Today, the government has taken over the camp and is continuing to provide cooked food to the population, while World Vision along with the college management to equip people with the knowledge and skills they need to prepare for life after the floods.

The camp is a perfect platform to talk about social issues - be it nutrition, health, child care, education and other issues benefitting the villagers. For now, the college authorities are talking about the ills of migration – since Bihar falls under the migration prone zone and many fear that this flood will force people to leave their villages.

Kishore and his other active colleagues, at their capacity, have done their best to educate people not to fall into the force or temptation of migration. While the grass looks greener on the other side, people face dire consequences when they leave their village and live in strange lands, “Some of them cannot go home even if they want to, because they have nothing back home” Kishore said.

Bihar is a challenging situation and even before the flooding, aid assistance was big here in comparison to that provided to other states in India – but the problems in Bihar also get bigger by the day.

The people at D.L College made history when they started the camp back in mid August – but the hundreds of children, women and men that this college was able to help will forever be grateful to Kishore and his colleagues.