A Disaster Like No Other

Background and ongoing impacts

Myanmar Cyclone Nargis: A disaster like no other
Usually when natural disasters occur, enormous earth-moving and other heavy machinery rolls out to help survivors. Helicopters and flotillas are launched on search-and-rescue missions. Medics and food supplies are parachuted in. Temporary water systems are laid down. And mobile clinic and food distribution sites are established.

In Myanmar, none of this happened. Instead, a corps of volunteers steadily spread through the Irrawaddy Delta, an area hard-hit by the cyclone, providing emergency aid to cyclone survivors.

Three months after the cyclone hit, these volunteers still provide the only lifeline for many survivors in isolated parts of the delta. Volunteers are using dugout canoes and private cars to distribute food, water, plastic materials, medicine, and charcoal to the 2.5 million people who have been severely affected by the storm.

In the first months after the storm, when the government of Myanmar refused to accept international aid workers, UUSC supported this remarkable grassroots response by the people of Myanmar. Today, as people return to their villages to plant their fields, resume their work, rebuild their homes, and ensure their children can return to school, UUSC continues to work with these local volunteers and groups.

On-the-ground realities
According to official figures, nearly 140,000 people are dead or missing in the aftermath of the cyclone (source: Post-Nargis Joint Assessment), although actual numbers will never be known. The cyclone has been followed by less-visible emergencies due to heavy monsoon rains, difficulty accessing remote areas, and continued operational constraints imposed by the government. Safe drinking water, adequate sanitation facilities, and access to basic health care remain huge concerns in the delta region.

Three months after the cyclone, survivors are still relying on aid to meet their basic food needs, and nearly one million people will require this aid for another nine months.

The threat of a food shortage looms large. The land area damaged by the cyclone is Myanmar's main rice-growing region, and tens of thousands of acres of farm land, were destroyed by the storm. The storm also destroyed 85 percent of the seeds that would have been used to replant fields and killed half of the buffaloes that help to plow the fields (source: Post-Nargis Joint Assessment). Some farmers who were able to plant rice on time are expecting a very modest harvest; but many delta farmers did not have the seeds they needed and their fields are still covered in salt. Many farmers must await the new planting season, next year.

Landless laborers, fishers, shrimpers, and salt-pan workers — who represent at least 50 percent of cyclone-affected households — were particularly hard-hit by the storm. Many depend on agriculture-related activities to make a living. With many farms out of operation, they now have far fewer opportunities to work. Fishers have lost their boats and equipment. Many shrimpers and salt-pan workers are migrant laborers who have lost their jobs and have less access to aid. In addition, many of these households have lost their backyard vegetable gardens and fruit trees, which they depend on for additional food. Supporting these vulnerable groups is essential to avoiding even greater poverty in the future.

The government has closed almost all of the camps in the delta region in an attempt to prove that life is back to normal. It has also demanded that people leave many of the monasteries that were providing shelter to nearly 70 percent of the 2.5 million survivors. With people now back in their villages, it is harder to reach them with the little aid that is coming into the delta. Meanwhile, survivors are building temporary shelters and repairing and rebuilding their homes with donated plastic sheeting and whatever materials they can find.

Children — especially orphans — and widows remain particularly vulnerable. Especially alarming is the risk of children being trafficked for labor or recruited into regular and irregular armed groups. Many children are unable to return to school because the school houses have been damaged or destroyed and teachers are scarce. Orphans, who often depend on local monasteries and the goodwill of the community, are in danger of being neglected because of the overall shortage of resources, including places for orphans to live and funding for their education and care. Widows are also struggling to recover from the destruction of the storm. Forced to become primary breadwinners, they are disadvantaged by traditional aid, which focuses mainly on livelihoods dominated by men.

The situation is volatile, and the circumstances on the ground are constantly changing. To stay up-to-date on the situation, please visit BurmaRescue, a valuable resource and information-sharing hub, and the ReliefWeb Cyclone Nargis page.

UUSC's approach and ongoing work

UUSC normally supports disaster relief efforts by working with local partner organizations and jointly assessing unmet needs and identifying particularly vulnerable populations that have been overlooked by mainstream aid groups. But Cyclone Nargis is a disaster like no other. The people who withstood the devastating cyclone are struggling to survive, while those who want to bring hope and life back to survivors are fighting against all odds to reach them. Bridging this gap is a great challenge.

UUSC begins relief assistance in the hardest-hit areas of the Irrawaddy Delta
Thanks to the generosity of hundreds of supporters, the UUSC-UUA Cyclone Nargis Relief Fund has received over $200,000 in donations for cyclone survivors. Despite the continued reluctance of the Myanmar government to accept international aid, UUSC is disbursing relief funds to partners working on the ground in Myanmar, including local Buddhist monasteries and nunneries. This aid is providing emergency food, clean water, and much-needed medical aid to the people in the Irrawaddy Delta region of southern Myanmar, including the townships of Bogale, Dedaye, Labutta, Myaungmya, Pyapon, and Yangon.

Through the Cyclone Nargis Relief Fund, UUSC has already supported:

• Essential food aid for over 2,200 survivors in six rural villages for one month.
• Rice, shelter, and other provisions to impoverished women who are seeking aid through two Buddhist nunneries in the lower delta region.
• Emergency health care in the immediate aftermath of the storm for 1,500 survivors.
• Water and water purification in four delta townships.
• Mosquito nets and blankets in three delta townships.

We are currently working with our partners to:

• Protect, educate, and provide assistance to unaccompanied children.
• Develop livelihoods that will benefit women and women-headed households, such as vegetable gardens and duck and hog rearing.
• Ensure that houses and public buildings are rebuilt to cyclone-resilient standards and that reconstruction includes women-headed households.

As UUSC begins to provide steady and persistent support through local organizations, we are mapping out future strategies and directions for mid- and long-term rebuilding and rehabilitation. From our experience working in affected countries after the Indian Ocean tsunami, we have learned that local organizations are best equipped to respond quickly and efficiently to disaster situations. Experience also shows that strengthening local capacities is crucial to ensuring sustainability. UUSC's aid strategy in Myanmar is based on this understanding.

Together, and with your generous support, we will be able to continue to act in solidarity with the courageous survivors of this devastating natural disaster.