Report for relief Trip #9 conducted on Saturday, 31 May to Kyonda area (Taw Chike Village)

Photos of trip #9

On this trip we used boats to reach villages that were inaccessible by road. We confirmed once again that the “official” aid effort is concentrated on large towns; little to no aid is getting to the more remote villages, even almost a month since the cyclone. People in these areas are at risk for starving to death. It is also getting more and more difficult for us to operate in this area, as the police try to keep out foreigners or even Burmese making private donations. Our final destination for this trip was Taw Chike village, located three hours by boat from the Kungyangon town on the island of Kyonda. However, we later found another nearby village called “The Seven Houses Village” that was in much worse shape.

After leaving Rangoon in the early morning, we drove two hours to the town of Kungyangon. We noticed that along the roads every 50 meters were groups of riot police but otherwise the roads were eerily empty of people, certainly not like the scene a few weeks ago when refugees lined the roads to get access to private donations. We also passed several refugee tent camps that looked liked ghost towns. Once we arrived to Kungyangon, we had to wait for our boat to be loaded.

The boat ride towards Taw Chike took approximately 3 hours. Along the river we were able to observe how badly the villages had been damaged by the cyclone. There were many dead water buffalo carcasses, although thankfully we only saw one human corpse along the way. We saw steep river banks that had been created overnight by a combination of the storm surge and strong winds. Another depressing effect was the damage to the DANEE plants, which are critically important to the villagers because they supply the green leaves used to build roofs. Since most of these plants were destroyed, many villagers cannot rebuild their roofs. New DANEE plants will grow, but the only ones available now are the young plants whose leaves are not strong enough yet to provide shelter from neither the monsoon rains nor the sun.

We finally arrived to Taw Chike village where we met the head monk. The local villagers were very surprised to see us because this was the first time that foreigners had ever been there. The village had received no aid apart from some private donations that had come in sporadically. We saw immediately that the two barrels with 100 gallons of diesel that we brought were going to be a tremendous help for the villagers. Their fresh water ponds were flooded with salt water and were completely unusable. The village was desperate for fresh water. With the diesel fuel, they were able to pump out all the muddy sea water and start collecting fresh rain water again. Unfortunately the soil in the area has been already damaged as well, and they won’t be able to plant rice this season. On a positive note, we observed that some teashops and other mini convenient shops were open. This is a positive sign that most villagers are trying to back on their feet. Sadly, many homes were completely destroyed and it will take a long time to rebuild. Some families have debris that they can reuse to build but others have nothing.

As the end of our visit drew near, we decided to go and see the ocean. In order to do that we need to ride the boat another 10 to 15 minutes downriver. When we finally arrived to the southern point of the island, it initially looked uninhabited and deserted. Then we began to notice many things half buried in the ground, like pillows, photo frames, plates, clothes, ornaments, etc. As we came closer to a fishing village, we saw that some fishing boats were completely destroyed and others still usable but in bad condition. Even worse, we found the remains of a dead woman exposed just 30 meters from the small house. When we asked the villagers about the remains, they told us that she did not belong to their village. When the ocean water flooded their villages, many bodies floated into their area, but they left the ones from other villages alone. Apparently now the government has given instructions for the locals to leave the bodies alone and let the Army dispose of them with flamethrowers, but they still haven’t reached many of these areas.

When we asked for the name of the village, they said “now people call us The Seven Houses Villages, but before the cyclone we had more than 40 houses and 200 people”. Now the survivors have lost most of their livelihoods, with the boats destroyed or damaged, they can no longer fish. Many Burmese don’t want to eat fish now anyway because of the association they have with all the bodies in the river and sea. Many of the families were trying to crowd into the remaining houses that survived the storm, but there just wasn’t enough room, and many had to live out in the open.

Our desire to enjoy and see the ocean was gone; however we were happy to find this village and be able to give them much needed supplies. We found out that they lost 20 residents during the storm and had received no help since then. All of the villagers look very malnourished. There was also a pregnant woman who will soon give birth. We are now trying to set up a family kit for her to take to her. We hope to gather more information in our next trip and try to set up something more sustainable, such as helping them repair their homes and fishing boats.

We are very concerned about premature resettlement of refugees. Although we understand how important it is to resume rice cultivation in these areas, most have no homes, no water buffaloes to plow with, fields flooded with salt water, no seeds, and little food to sustain them. In addition, they are now not allowed access to the roads, where at least they could get private donations. In addition, access for private donors is become more and more limited, and official efforts still are not reaching outside the main towns. We fear that many may starve.

On a positive note, here is an update on the little girl suffering from Frontonasal encephalocele that we found in Po Laung village last week on Trip #8. An anonymous donor has agreed to pay for her surgery. She and her family are now in Rangoon and she likely will have her first surgery on Wednesday. Apparently the growing mass might have started penetrating her brain cavity within a year or two, so it is so fortunate that she is getting proper care now. Recovery won’t happen over night but she has a real chance to have a normal life now after the treatment. We will continue to follow up on her. Read more about this particular problem at The Honolulu Advertiser

New photos of past relief work. These photos are much better than anything we have posted previously. They are both truly representative of the beautiful, resilient Burmese people in the disaster areas. Please take a look.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to these relief efforts – you really are saving lives! We have received donations from generous people both inside and outside Burma. Thanks also to the all the volunteers that have helped us, especially the Embassy FSN community, international teachers, the Burma Foundation and DAO.

Please, if you know anyone who would like to donate to our project have them contact beyondrangoonproject@yahoo.com for information on how to donate online or by mailing a check or wiring cash.

Trip Details:

Departure time from Yangon : 05:30 AM
Return time to Yangon : 8:15 PM
Number of Volunteers : 14 (4 foreigners and 10 Burmese)
Number of Vehicles : 1 SUV, 1 cargo truck, 1 station wagon.

Donated goods :

• 50 sacks of rice (50 kilos each)
• 10 Rolls of tarps (6″x300″ each)
• 4 Can of cooking oil (5 gallons each can)
• 1 Sack of Salt (50 Kilos) / 1 sack of beans (50 kilos)
• 2 Barrels of Diesel (50 gallons each)