Nargis volunteer narrates tales of continued crisis

By Lawi Weng
Kaowao News

24 June 2008, Every day the coverage of Burma's Cyclone Nargis diminishes around the world. "After just one month news of Cyclone Nargis dropped on news programmer's priority lists," a foreign volunteer, Tom, said. He has arrived on the border after working for one month in Rangoon.

Although the global media coverage is fading, the crisis that followed the devastating events of May 2 and May 3 continues, as each day the Burmese cyclone survivors face food shortages. According to Tom, many cyclone survivors have been stealing food from each other in the Phyapon Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp.

The junta recently told Thai healthcare teams that the post-Nargis situation was under control and that the people of Burma no longer needed any aid. Having just returned from Burma, Tom stated that resettlement programs planned to run for two years would clearly need to be extended by at least another three. He went on to say, "The country is still in bad shape, with corpses still floating in the water and many survivors in desperate need of aid."

In the wake of Cyclone Nargis, the world tried to offer aid to Burma, but the junta largely refused any outside help. In recent weeks the UN urged world leaders to provide more aid to Burma. The World Food Program (WFP) only received USD 35 million from post-Nargis donations. If further aid does not arrive soon the Burmese arm of the WFP would be defunct, leaving many cyclone survivors facing starvation.

The WFP has said survivors need more aid and they need water buffalos to resume growing rice in their fields. Many water buffalos were killed in the cyclone. Although the junta built schools and houses for the victims in Phyapon, Tom told our correspondent, "The people can't eat houses. They need food. These houses only benefit the Junta and their building contracting cronies."

Tom said a team appointed by the Junta visited Phyapon and distributed rice and mangoes to the IDPs. There were five hundred families in Phyapon, and the team offered ten bags of rice and a handful of mangoes. The victims only accepted one small basket of rice and one mango, while the team took photos. The Junta did not visit them again.

This photo opportunity was not the only way the Junta exploited the cyclone survivors, as donated goods were readily available at roadside stalls. Tom said, "I saw clothes donated at the temple and the next morning I found the same clothes in the public market. The military officers were behind it, and they do not try to hide their corruption."

This type of report only serves to solidify fears held by the international community, who voiced concerns about their aid reaching the people who needed it most, and not just the Junta. After the refusal of foreign aid, many American reports stated their concerns that aid would not reach cyclone survivors but would be grabbed by the oppressive Junta.

Unfortunately aid restrictions have also been placed on local donors, even individuals, who attempted to share food with their less fortunate neighbours. People in Burma are growing increasingly concerned that cyclone survivors may not survive much longer. The concern is greatest for young children who have lost their parents to Cyclone Nargis.