Myanmar Tropical Cyclone Nargis

Yangon, Friday May 2nd, 2008 - The winds and rain began their brutal assault around midnight...by early morning, the water was leaking through all three floors of our guesthouse and flooding the downstairs rooms. We scooped water out through the front door all morning and by midday, Nargis had passed leaving Yangon and the Irrawady delta in ruins.

It wasn't until 2 days later that we were able to cross the river to Dalah, a very poor community opposite the Irrawady river from Yangon. The dock on the other side was destroyed, residents of Dalah that rode out the cyclone in Yangon were not able to reach their families and homes until 2 days later....we jumped from the ferry into mud knee deep.....Dalah was devasted....people were drinking dirty water from the polluted lake in the middle of town and patching together thier roofs with the soggy scraps Nargis had left behind.....

Because the military gave strict orders to keep foreigners away from the devastation in the delta, and because gas prices had jumped to over $12 a gallon after the disaster, persuading someone to take us to the delta was difficult and expensive.....but eventally possible after about an hour of negotiations...and bribes to the security guards at the various checkpoints....

Throughout the delta, destruction was acute....whole villages and towns were wiped out. Hundreds of people gathered into small monasteries and concrete schools.....whatever was left standing. They would soon be pushed out of these safehouses by government forces into flimsy camps where they are now subjected to the inimical elements of the monsoon season. We were able to take some fresh water down but it was nothing in the face of what was needed.

In a subsequent attempt to the delta, we brought a truck full of rice and vegetables, but were denied access because we are white....we had to eventually give the donations to a local NGO, but had to offer it under a fake Burmese name in order for them to accept it because the government issued warnings to whoever was being helped by foreigners....

As the days went on, ability to get down to document the suffering of the people got harder and harder until it was almost impossible. All we can do now is help whoever we have access to. The young woman who runs the guesthouse we usually stay in lost everything...her home and all her belongings....her family and her now sleep cramped in a neighbor's house with over 20 people.....
Let us not forget that the people of the Irrawady Delta are still suffering...this disaster has not ended...instead it grows more dire by the day. Though many of us cannot personally lend a hand, let us not do them injustice by forgetting them.