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Gitameit Volunteer

Meditation center, Pagoda in Hlaing Thaya
I think our method of providing aid is effective only because the abbot supervised our activities. We should continue to visit this location in the future.

Shwe Pauk Kan
The refugee camp is not so far from the city. So the situation doesn’t seem so bad. I don’t think their spirits are down because aid works come regularly.

South Dagon
I think that all the refugees are depressed and miserable. I don’t see their situation improving soon. I am sad, fed up, and feel sympathy for these refugees.

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Recently, several Gitameit students accompanied a relief team to Daedaye, a town south of Yangon. Two monks from the area had come to Yangon and heard about Gitameit’s relief work. They came to the school and told the students about how the storm had affected their villages and what kinds of supplies were needed. Gitameit quickly put together a team of two students, two doctors, and another volunteer familiar with the area, and started the trip. (You can find out about the experiences of the Gitameit students, Tha Nge and Thit Ti, by reading their journal entries on this site.)

The trip to Daedaye was a success and very important, as some of the villages the students visited said that these were the first relief supplies they had received. On the 3 day trip, the team distributed aid to almost 6,000 people, mostly rice, oil, fish, salt, and plastic tarps to use for temporary roofing. The doctors also saw many patients and distributed medications.

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Thit Ti- voice and piano student- 14-15 May 2008

At 7am, we met at Gitameit for our trip to Daydeye. After purchasing 100 bags of rice at Mingalardone Garden Housing and cooking oil, dried fish, salt, and tarps at Bayindaung, we went set off for Daydeye. As the truck was fully loaded with supplies, finding a place to sit was not easy. But we seemed to manage. The trip was rough because the road was in need of repair. Also, we were soaked with rain. But despite these adverse conditions, we plunged forward.

While traveling, we met a number of inundated houses and paddy fields. But we also saw many private local groups helping refugees. Like us, their cars were also loaded with as many supplies as they could carry. They were heading for outlying rural areas. It was really good to see them.

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Ashin Dhammasara — Monk — Irrawaddy Division

Sadness

In Myanmar, the people from Irrawaddy divisions are in grave danger. Nargis destroyed many villages. As a member of one of these villages, I have never experienced anything like this storm. When it came, I felt both overwhelming shock and sadness. I have deep compassion and empathy for those who don’t have food, water, and shelter. To say the least, if you look at this experience from a Buddhist perspective, it is possible to get a very valuable life lesson. As someone who has suffered greatly from this storm, I want to thank you for your generous support. I am looking forward to seeing the benefits of your future acts of generosity. Thank you.

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Click on the play button below to listen to Gitameit teacher, Theresa, talk about Cyclone Nargis:

Click on the play button below to listen to Gitameit teacher, Htun Htun, talk about Cyclone Nargis:

Thit Ti

We have been helping these victims as much as we can for the past few days. They can’t get out of the situations we see. Most of their homes were completely destroyed. And the rest, if they weren’t destroyed completely were very bad. So they have to live in this bad place with lots of difficulties.

The homeless have to gather at public places, such as monasteries and schools. But then, the refugees are allowed to stay at these public places only for a limited period of time. Since they are homeless, where else can they live if they are asked to move from these places? We can do nothing but feel sorry for them. Among them, the aged, children, sick people, and pregnant women suffered more. I was wondering, if I were one of these refugees, would I be able to deal with this trouble?

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Su Myat Htet — Hlaing Thar Yar Team

Today my team went to 6 different refugee camps. First, we went to Yadana Thirimyo Oo Monastery. Since we arrived at the camp at lunchtime, we saw many young children eating their meals. It was such a wonderful sight to see. We were especially glad to see them eating enthusiastically because we knew that we were the ones who were able to give them food.

Next we went to Amaka 31. For this site, we had a plan. We had a raffle for tarps. We awarded tarps to 24 out of the 50 families there. After we finished the raffle, we met a young girl who was sick. We saw that she was recovering well from dysentery. When we saw her yesterday, she was a sorry sight to see. She seemed to be in so much pain. What a sad thing to see a girl who was so young, only 11, in so much pain. Yesterday we gave her some money so that she could go to a doctor. So again, we were happy to see that we could make a difference. As soon as we went to houses of the raffle winners and took pictures, I became very upset. The losers of the raffle were distraught and shouting that they had nowhere to sleep. I felt really sorry because it was impossible to provide enough for everyone. As we only had a limited number of tarps, we could only help them so much.

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Hpong Latt Aung

The lampposts fell, the electricity went out, there was no water, and the living conditions have deteriorated to the lowest levels. I have never experienced this kind of event. For the sake of all the people of Myanmar, we should resolve this tragedy quickly.

Pyae Phyo Han

Nargis struck Myanmar from 12:00AM of May 2nd to 3PM of May 3rd. Neither of my grandparents has ever experienced this kind of storm. The storm devastated not only Yangon but also Laputta, Haing Kyi, Chaung Wa, and some other places. Many people died. Many trees fell. There was a lot of flooding. This is a truly terrible event. There are many homeless refugees. Despite these wretched conditions, countless greedy businessmen sell the sheets of iron roofing for 20,000K ($1=1100K). Before the price was between 3000-4000K. Before a pack of nails was 1000K. Now they are 15,000K. The bus fares are 3 to 4 times higher. Our school was also damaged by Nargis. All the trees that sheltered the school fell. The fence has also collapsed. There is no water and our school is closed for at least one month. It won’t be easy to restore Yagon’s beauty. The internet cafes are closed. But some are open for 1800-2000K per hour.

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