Cyclone Nargis: Our response #14

OM International

Because rainy season has worsened the road conditions, the team made the trip by boat this time.  Two staff and four volunteers left by boat for the eight-hour ride one evening.  The following day, they bought bamboo and the necessary items to build ten houses, as well as 41 bags of rice.  They left the port town at noon and took another boat to reach the villages, arriving around 22.00 hours.  This village is the furthest from the port town.

The next day, they reached their destination at around 10.00 hours, where they donated the bamboo and building materials for the ten houses and gave away fifteen bags of rice.   Villagers do not have any cooking pots, because these were lost in the cyclone, and new ones have not yet been donated due to the difficulty in visiting the location. There are about thirty houses, housing seventy people. The team also assisted with installing the hand pump for one well.     

On the return trip, they gave another fifteen bags of rice to another village, before returning to the port town to give out the remainder of the rice.  The team was also able to see how the house construction was progressing from the materials they distributed the previous week.  The villagers had completed ten houses but needed some extra bamboo, so the team gave them money to buy the bamboo. 

The continuation of the rainy season resulting in worsening road conditions has meant that the decision to visit by boat will become a regular mode of reaching the villages.  However, this takes much longer, and adds extra stress to the team members. 

To date, the team has completed eight wells and donated materials for twenty houses in the Delta area.  The housing project will continue each week, with a projected goal of 140 houses in three villages in the Delta. 

Later, three staff visited another village, bringing twenty bags of rice and three bags of onions for the villagers.  They also discussed with the village head and the local authority the possibility of building a bridge; the team would contribute the materials to build the bridge and the villagers would provide the labour.  Everyone was so grateful for the visit and followed the team as they left, even pushing the truck through the muddiest places.  Without their help the team could not have made the trip back.

The following week, the team returned to the area to donate rice to a different village nearby.  They donated twenty bags of rice for 130 families, and returned to the original village to observe the bridge construction, which has since been completed.

Nearby, the team has distributed thirty two bags of rice to 332 families on the first day; sixteen bags of rice to 250 families the second day; five bags of rice to twenty families and one church to distribute on the third day; six bags of rice to 63 families on the third day; and ten bags of rice to 300 families on the last day.  This is a total of 69 bags of rice distributed to 965 families within one week!

"Today we were able to work with the local authority, so we were able to help specific Nargis victims.  When the people received the rice, they were so happy and wished us blessings.  We were able to reach the needy including widows and orphans.  Tonight, one of the widows told me that her family prayed for us," related one team member.

"Many families here rebuilt their homes along the embankment of the rice fields.  A lady told us that when the heavy rains come, leeches sometimes come and bite the heads of the children while they are sleeping in their homes.  Some of the women said that we met them at the right time, because they had no dinner for that day.  Many people are homeless, helpless, and hopeless.  For them, the rice brings some joy and hope."

Credit: OM International
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