Diary of an Accidental Humanitarian

Tharaphi Than was in London on May 2, 2008, talking on the phone with her brother in Myanmar, when she learned that Cyclone Nargis was about to hit the Irrawaddy Delta. It was to be Myanmar's largest natural disaster in living memory. When the government refused to accept international aid, local volunteers became survivors' only lifeline. She didn't know it then, but Than was on her way to becoming a humanitarian aid worker. Her path would eventually lead her into partnership with UUSC. This is Than's story, told through her words.

May 3-6
The death toll keeps rising. Is aid getting through? Something needs to be done; I'm going. Wrote a letter to all of my friends asking for money for relief work.

May 7
People are responding. I am amazed by their trust. Received three boxes of purification tablets from an anonymous donor. Emptied all rubber gloves from a nearby store.

May 9
In Myanmar. Fields are flooded with water. Feeling uncertain and under-prepared. When I ask how people are coping, I hear ko htu ko hta meaning "Doing it on your own." Went with some friends to an informal briefing by U.N. staff. Got a list of areas where no one had received aid.

May 10
Turned an empty flat into an office-warehouse. Three assessment teams went out and came back with a list of priorities; rice was first on the list. There is some wet rice in affected areas, but survivors, having lost everything, cannot afford to buy it. Seventy percent of homes are destroyed. Began procuring goods, everyone taking ownership and doing whatever they were good at. We were ready to go back out the same day.

May 12
Nine days after the disaster and government and international aid agencies are nowhere to be seen. We think about how to feed survivors, and how to prevent disease outbreaks. Local volunteers like us are in charge of the relief work everywhere.

May 13
Survivors are anxious about planting their fields. They say that if they just had a house, they could divert their attention to planting. Most have lost family members, houses, livestock, tools...yet they can not even grieve in peace; they are constantly worried about how to put food on the table each day.

Survivors of Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar talk with field staff of UUSC partner MBEAN about ways to improve their vegetable yields — part of a UUSC-supported livelihoods recovery project.

May 14
Started using boats to reach remote places. We see miles of people asking for food. This work is hard and risky, but we can't turn our backs on the survivors. They are very brave.

May 21
We have chosen to focus on early recovery like helping farmers and fishers get back on their feet. No one wants to feel like a victim; we need to help them resume their normal livelihood activities as soon as possible and restore their dignity and pride.

May 24
Now is the time for people to support this grassroots movement, which is gaining momentum. We are living in a smaller and smaller world, but we will never become part of the global community if we are left alone to solve these problems.

. . .

In June, Than returned to London to raise additional support for her new organization, the Myanmar-Burma Emergency Aid Network (MBEAN). When UUSC's Rights in Humanitarian Crises Program found out about Than and her extraordinary work, they initiated a partnership with MBEAN, focusing on helping widows and other vulnerable women revive their livelihoods.

By December 2008, UUSC and MBEAN had helped 163 women in remote villages begin to raise pigs and chickens, resume fishing, and open small food shops. Today, UUSC and MBEAN are assisting another 394 men and women through livelihood projects. The goal is to help survivors of Cyclone Nargis get back on their feet as quickly as possible.

MBEAN is recognized as one of the first organizations following Cyclone Nargis to look at early recovery of livelihoods for the most vulnerable survivors.

Produced by UUSC's Gretchen Alther for Rights Now, Spring 2009.