Myanmar: A year on from cyclone Nargis - relief and recovery in a harsh environment

A year after cyclone Nargis tore through Myanmar’s Ayeyarwady Delta taking the lives of over 125,000 people and seriously affecting another two million, relief programmes supported by Tearfund have brought hope to thousands of families in the region. However, Tearfund says that there is still much more to do to equip remote communities for future cyclones in this harsh environment.

Working with local partner agencies Tearfund’s relief and recovery programme is helping communities in villages located on low-lying islands where the multiple confluences of rivers meet the storm-producing Bay of Bengal. Although people annually face water shortages the traditional ways of providing water for use through the dry season were wiped out by cyclone Nargis.

‘Water is predictably scarce during the dry season and this was made more acute by the storm surge which polluted water sources,’ explains Rachel Stevens, Tearfund’s relief programme manager for Myanmar.

‘Many factors have impacted on a family’s disposable income: the expense of having to pay for transport due to loss of infrastructure and assets, such as the boats that were destroyed; with rice mills lost, families have to send their rice to other communities to be milled and have to pay for the service; and with severe water scarcity through the recent dry season, families that relied on buying water have faced water price increases. All this is compounded with the loss of a livelihood providing a regular income - the biggest ongoing impact on a family’s recovery.’

Village water reserves in community ponds are contaminated from the tidal surge of saline sea water which accompanied the strong winds last year. One Tearfund partner project has hired a barge that is able to pump ‘sweet’ or unsalinated water from a river some distance away. The water is pumped into the holding deck of the vessel covered in tarpaulins and shipped to communities where it is pumped into tanks in the villages for distribution. This process is repeated every couple of days.

Other longer-term initiatives include providing trees to prevent water evaporating from ponds and preventing animals from polluting these water sources by building fences to secure them. Farmers and landless households have also been helped by the programme providing rice seed and replacing small livestock.

Money generously donated to Tearfund’s Myanmar appeal by people in the UK initially funded food, medical assistance and materials for families to build temporary shelters. Children have also been helped to come to terms with the loss of friends and families through a story book especially designed and written for them. Livelihoods are being restored with the provision of nets and boats and, with the monsoon season fast approaching, Tearfund’s partners have focussed on enabling communities to build permanent houses.

Daw Aye Kyi (39) is a mother of five young children living at the southernmost tip of the delta. When cyclone Nargis hit the region her house was completely swept away. ‘We managed to escape from our house …and take refuge in the chapel, staying there for four days sheltering with other families,’ says Daw Aye Kyi. ‘We moved into a tarpaulin and bamboo shelter where we lived for six months. It was about 9ft by 18ft, so very cramped for us and very hot during the dry season. In January we were given a new house to live in. It’s cool and much bigger for all the family. With the monsoon season approaching we feel a lot safer than before.’

A Tearfund partner team worked with community groups and local carpenters and masons to build homes that reflected the villager’s needs. Palm frond panels allowing better ventilation and concrete enforced floor supports, along with additional strengthening to the walls and floors and ‘hurricane straps’, will make the houses more resistant to future storms.

In addition, recognising the acute vulnerability of people with disabilities some 980 houses have been either rebuilt or repaired with adaptations for better access. The project team has worked closely with residents enabling bespoke design to meet individual needs.

In another village Tearfund has funded an initiative to distribute two rechargeable LED lamps to each of the 110 families and the installation of a community solar recharging unit. This natural resource, readily available, is an affordable technology and has the potential to dramatically improve the lives of thousands of people living in isolated communities throughout the delta which have no electricity supply.

Tearfund partner teams continue to work in the areas that were worst affected - providing home reconstruction and water purification. They recognise the significant progress but talk of a real sense of fear that remains.

‘People think that disaster will strike again,’ says Rachel. ‘The overwhelming scale of loss a year ago isn’t easily erased and many families are still suffering a great amount of trauma. There are numerous churches throughout the delta with pastors struggling to come to terms with their own loss on top of ministering to broken communities.’

‘It is the ongoing prayer support as well as the generosity of supporters – a kindness in action confronting disaster – that has enabled initial relief and this continuing long-term recovery.’