phazey
One of Freddy's beloved
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2004
- Messages
- 250
I don't know if this post is against forum rules, but i got the following from a personal friend here in Yangon. People like this guy are taking the relief effort up on their own, and by christ they need the support.
Family and Friends
Nargis cyclone hit various parts of Myanmar on 2nd and 3rd of May 2008.
It has wiped out entire villages, death toll figures are growing by the day and over a million people are homeless. There are tens of thousands of corpse still lying in rivers and streams throughout the country because we don’t have the infrastructure to handle a travesty of this magnitude. Disease is spreading, innocent people are dying.
There has been wide media coverage of my country’s disaster and there has also been a lot of support from various external agencies and countries.
When this disaster first happened, I was in shock and not sure how I could help. I flew to Myanmar and saw the devastation which had been caused in the capital Yangon, Many friends and colleagues homes have been damaged, roofs have been ripped off, the city lost all communication and electricity was at a stand still. Due to my lack of experience with such events I did not and could not see that what was happening in Yangon was really only the tip of the ice berg.
On 11th May (Sunday) I went with a a close group of friends and colleagues to a small town called War Kamei which is 3 hrs west of Yangon to go and visit some of the centers which is now taking care of a number of the homeless. Below is my account for War Kamei and other towns I visited.
War Kamei
Upon arriving in War Kamei I was expecting to see a town which had been hit similar to Yangon (the capital) but found there was minimal damage. I then came to realize that this town had been set up as a “Rehabilitation Town” for the vast number of homeless. Upon arriving in War Kamei, we went to a school which had been converted to a emergency hostel for the homeless.
We were received by an individual who was a volunteer worker who was in charge of taking care of and coordinating the entire operation. This kind kind (written twice) person told us that the hostel was currently surviving off donors like ourselves and supplies given by local authorities and that no external aid had reached them and nor where they aware that they were to receive any in the near future.
There was outside each hostel a list of the names of people who were there which would make it easy for identification if loved ones came looking. There were about 300 people (men, women and children) with about 15-20 people per room ( a room in an average class room size) and there were about 10 different centers in War Kamei. The men and women were separated and the children were mostly (not all) with their mother and there was a separate room for orphans. Already you could see that there were more male survivors than female (probably 2 male to every 1 female) One lady had also just given birth to a new born baby in this emergency hostel just 3 day ago. The orphans where just sitting in this room and waiting for someone to come and adopt them. According to the caretakers, once someone does request to adopt an orphan, a set amount of time is given to make sure that the parents are no longer alive.
I went into several rooms where the homeless where just sitting on a floor, staring at whoever comes in praying that we have brought a solution to all their problems and we are going to give them the life they had just 9 days ago back. I talked to a lot of the people I saw but will write about my discussions with them in a different section.
I then walked around the campus, and went into the dining room where the victims were eating together. Their meal was plain rice and bean soup. Outside dishes were being washed together using water from a small pond within the campus which the victims are also bathing in. We visited 2-3 more hostels and met some officials to discuss the future plans for the way to move forward. This again I shall list separately. We had a detailed discussion on what supplies were available and where they were vastly depleting and what they felt we should donate. The officials said that War Kamei was one of the smaller Rehabilitation Towns and suggested we visit Myaungmya and Latputta where the operations and task was much greater. Off we went to Myaungmya by road and crossing a couple of rivers by ferry.
Myaungmya
Upon arriving in Myaungmya we visited another school converted into an emergency hostel. Instantly you felt more intensity here. The no’s were much larger, there were 500 victims per school with 50-60 all cramming into small rooms. Myaungmya is closer to but not one of the areas hit hard by Nargis. The atmosphere in these schools were less calm, there were more tears, more children, the victims here looked more….raw I came to learn that Myaungmya was the 2nd largest rehabilitation center in Myanmar with approx 30,000 homeless victims at the time of writing. These no’s are growing by the hour, as survivors are found and sent to various parts of the country. Again I spent time with victims, talked about their Nargis experience, the loss of their loved ones, their immediate needs and discussed their current living conditions. In each room, before I left they beggd me to come back and not to abandon them, I also said a short prayer together with the victims of each room. As I left the building in the last hostel, all the victims came out of their rooms and crowded around the balcony overlooking me and we all said a short prayer together again. At the end the victims all then started clapping very hard for 30 seconds at me. I clapped back. It was the one part of the day where I lost control of my emotions. It was so powerful. I promise ill be back.
Again there was no sign of any external aid agency presence nor receipt of goods.
Latputta
We left Myaungmya at about 1700 thinking we would reach Latputta by 1800. Unfortunately the journey was much longer and we did not reach till 1930 when there was no more light (all electricity infrastructure was destroyed). Latputta was the worst affected onland area in Myanmar (it is about 10 miles from the delta. We lost light as we got closer but you saw from the condition of the toppled trees, ruined homes that this was where the disaster took place. This was not just a rehabilitation center, this is where the cyclone attack took place and a rehabilitation center in one. It was different to the other places. I prepared myself for the worse. The last 10 miles on the road towards Latputta, there was a stream which ran parallel to the road and was where hundreds of innocent victims who never escaped cyclone nargis still are lying. As soon as we got into Latputta, the first thing you noticed was the stench in the air of approx 60,000 victims to nargis. It was overwhelming and even with all windows up in the car, you could still find trouble breathing. I could not believe I was experiencing this. This is what we read about in History when we younger, we were not meant to see this nor breathe it.
It was raining by the time we arrived and Lattputta was literally a ghost town with no electricity by the time we arrived. We found a monastery and went in. It was pitch black with a few lit candles scattered around. We found the person who was running the operations during this period (not a monk). Seeing it was not a school, all the victims were grouped in one room and others who could not fit had to sleep outside where the roof covered the rain. This monastery had 700 victims. I started trying to take pictures of people sleeping on the side, then next thing you know, I am surrounded by young children and adults asking for their picture being taken. Having their picture taken made them so happy and was a joy for me to witness the smiles on their face. You see it in the pictures. They were queuing up and I was running out of battery!
That evening another 700 victims arrived in Lawpitta from other disaster areas but there was nowhere to house them. There was no space in this monastery. These victims are going to keep pouring in.
We were contemplating sleeping in the car overnight so we could get a better look at Latputta in the morning but our group came to the conclusion that we will be back soon and that we need to get this account of the events out to you all. On the way out of Latputta I saw 1-2 UN vehicles parked outside a residence.
Victim’s Story
19 Year Old Male
“I had a family of 18 (eighteen), (parents, grandparents and siblings) I watched all but my younger brother get pulled away by the cyclone. Now there is only him and I.
Mother of 2
My husband was at work, and when the cyclone came there was only me and my 2 children. The water level was about 12ft high ..They both were swept away and I could not do anything. I was holding onto a tree to try and save us all but I lost grip of my children and they were gone. I heard my husband is safe but iv lost my only 2 children.
23 Year old male
There was 10 of us in my family. My father, mother, 2 elder brothers and my 5 younger sisters. I lost my 5 younger sisters all at once when nargis came.
Mother of 3 children.
My husband and I were both holding onto a tree, he was with my two sons and I was with my new born son. The wind and water became too fierce and I lost grip of my baby and he was swept away. My husband secured my two sons and went after my baby and managed to catch him and then grab onto another tree. We 5 are safe and very lucky but have no home anymore.
Young Girl
We sleep at 9 pm, wake up at 6 am. We clean our room, have breakfast and then just sit the rest of the day. We don’t know whats going to happen. The people here are taking care of us as best they can but how much longer can they do this? We want to mourn for our lost ones but we don’t know whether we can be fed again or whether we will survive. I don’t know what the future holds. I have no home, iv lost my parents, I lost all my siblings, my husband though is safe and in a room across the hall. I am having my menstruation but I have no tampons. Pls help us.
Middle Aged Mother
I have not showered in 10 days. I only have 1 set of clothing and my baby has urinated all over what I am wearing. Pls help provide us with more clothing.
What they need immediately
Food Supplies (Instant Noodles, Rice Bags)
Drinking Water (a lot are currently having to drink from streams)
Straw Mat to sleep
Sheet
Longyi (this is the traditional clothing (sarong) for both male and female)
Shoes
Mosquito net for Children
Women supplies
Our Plan and Request
We need to have a 2 staged plan here. We must first give the required supplies asap to the victims to prevent another tragedy taking place off the back of a tragedy. Once this is in place, a long term plan revival plans need to be put in place. My friends and I yesterday discussed the possibility of building new basic homes (this will cost approx US$50-100 for one family) for the victims and providing them with basic infrastructure to live, ie plates, cutlery and a roof over their head which will allow them to go out and try and make a living independently in time. A pilot project will start soon to see how this works and Ill keep you all updated on this through a group.
At the moment you will probably see that external aid supplies are not reaching the victims for various reasons out of all our control. I having been and seen things myself and having full access to these areas am now devoted to help. I can not do it alone though and need your financial support.
My target is to raise US$25,000 within this week as a starting point. I do not have a charity in place, nor a foundation and to set these up would be a time consuming experience which is something the victims and we don’t have time for at the moment. I have set up a pay pal account which is "Sorry, can the mail address be removed with a "PM phazey to get the address" tag added" (you need to have a pay pal account to send and if you don’t its quick to set up) which will enable you to make a donation online using credit card to or if you wish you can transfer the funds to a bank account. I will furnish these details upon request. Here for people who do not know me, this may not be the correct or most transparent way, but believe me…..its the only way at the moment. I know a lot of you have donated online already, but believe me, your goodwill contribution so far has not reached where it should have by now. We can do nothing about the victims who have tragically lost their lives apart from pray for them, but we can save the millions still suffering and who’s lives are still at risk.
Its crucial to get supplies on the ground asap. I have the necessary infrastructure to do this, but need your financial help as it needs to be done on a large scale. I will control and administer all funds received personally. I also invite any donor to visit Myanmar this coming Thursday which is when procurement of supplies will take place to assist. We shall then leave for the disaster areas on Saturday morning.
My laptop battery is dying and I need to now go and find somewhere in Yangon where internet is working I can send this email and pictures to you all.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
I hope to get your support.
