One Year Later, Survivors of Myanmar Cyclone Struggle to Recover

One of the deadliest cyclones in history, Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar's Irrawaddy Delta the evening of May 2, 2008, leveling much of the delta and creating havoc in the capital city of Yangon. According to a New York Times article, over 85,000 people died and an additional 54,000 are still missing a year later.

UUs responded generously, donating approximately $200,000 to the UUSC-UUA Cyclone Nargis Relief Fund. However, the military junta that rules Myanmar was reluctant to allow aid groups into the affected areas, making access extremely difficult. This sparked a widespread grassroots movement of ordinary citizens, led by monks, who mobilized to collect, organize, and distribute aid to stricken areas.

Members of a partner organization now visiting the delta wrote to us about the situation there, one year later. The picture they paint is one of survival and grassroots reconstruction, not of a government-supported revival of the area. The positive side of this is that many new grassroots groups have formed and community organization has strengthened.

UUSC's initial response to the humanitarian crisis was to develop relationships with several of these new grassroots organizations to channel life-saving supplies into the delta area. These efforts were aimed at providing relief aid (water, food, medical supplies, and roofing) to areas that had been overlooked in the first few weeks of aid.

The second phase of UUSC's humanitarian response centered on community-based programs to help people rebuild their livelihoods, with a focus on widows. There was a high rate of success in these first programs, which have now expanded to different parts of the delta.

Our partners explained that most houses, which were built of local materials and thatched with bamboo, have been rebuilt, and most ponds have been repaired. The enormous ceramic drinking water storage vessels, traditionally used in the villages, however, have not been repaired, leaving people to depend on pond water, which poses health risks.

The cyclone wiped out the draft animals in the delta, most of which drowned, and both aid agencies and the government opted to replace them with mechanization. This has caused a small-scale industrial revolution in villages. This has had two negative consequences.

• Many tenants and day laborers have lost their jobs and are out of work for as long as six months of the year, pushing them precariously close to financial crisis. With are almost no alternative work options, most resort to catching fish and shellfish to sell. However, this is illegal, because fishing rights in all rivers, creeks, and tributaries have been contracted out. If laborers are caught, they are subject to fines of at least 5,000 kyats (roughly about $700 USD).

• The fall in global commodities prices has affected farmers' income, and mechanization requires ongoing cash outlays for gasoline and other supplies. Now 90 percent of farmers in the delta planting their fields are in debt.

One year later, over 150 primary schools in the delta have yet to be rebuilt, and children are going to school in temporary learning spaces. Rebuilding of bridges is still incomplete.