The water and sanitation programme helps people to build latrines, to combat the spread of water borne diseases and to educate them on why this is necessary.
After Cyclone Sidr struck in November 2007, ten volunteers in the badly affected Patuakhali district were trained to help others to build their own latrines.
The Bangladesh Red Crescent Society and the IFRC provided training and hardware in the form of five rings that reinforce the pit as well as concrete surface pads.
24-year-old Rajib Md Saiful Islam has been volunteering for six years for the Red Crescent.
"People need help and I am trying to serve them. I have an education and feel I should give back something. As a human, I feel proud to help."
“I arrived three days after Sidr and tried to find lost people; I saw a lot of dead people and it touched my heart. People were hanging from trees, the smell was just horrible. The people will never get over it but I am hoping what I am doing will help just a little bit," he explained.
Noor Mohammad Khan (78) and his wife Manijar (60) lost everything in the cyclone:
"We lost our granddaughter, our house, everything. During the cyclone we hid in a bamboo thicket and my two-year-old granddaughter was washed away. My wife was holding her, but somehow she got lost. We stayed there for 12 hours until the water receded. All my cows were gone as well,” remembers Noor.
"I'll never get back my former life but I feel proud of my house and especially my latrine. We have shelter and some privacy. I have a good impression of the Red Crescent volunteers since they showed me how to do it myself."