Cyclone Nargis: one year on
Yangon - A year on from Cyclone Nargis and signs of the devastation wrought by one of the most powerful storms in history remain in many parts of the Irrawaddy Delta and Yangon. Reconstruction is painfully slow and thousands are still without housing, fresh water or work. With the monsoon rains on the way, people are extremely vulnerable.
Despite the devastation it’s obvious that life goes on and people continue to have sex and have children. By providing essential family services, MSI is providing people with a choice; a choice which is even more necessary than ever as people struggle to rebuild their lives economically, environmentally, and socially. To do this successfully, they need to plan the number of children they have.
MSI’s Regional Director for Pacific Asia, Ary Laufer, visited the country recently to find out how the MSI team there were getting on one year on from the Cyclone.
“After a couple of day with the MSI Myanmar team in Yangon I spent the next two days with one of our outreach teams as they made their way from village to village providing much needed family planning, reproductive healthcare services and basic medical assistance. The work they are doing is amazing and having a real impact on the lives of the people affected by Cyclone Nargis.
After loading up the MSI vehicle with family planning and other supplies we set off and very shortly moved off the highway onto unmade roads as we made our way to the first village. After bouncing along for three hours we transferred to a Sampan boat for the final two hour part of the journey. As we arrived at the village we were warmly greeted by the villagers, many of whom had lost loved ones during the cyclone. Looking around it’s possible to see some progress has been made in helping to repair the village but it’s still hard to get clean water and food is limited. Basic services also aren’t yet back in place.
We set up camp in the Buddhist Monastery Seminary and despite the fact that today was a day when many of the 7,000 villagers were remembering their dead, large numbers still turned up to see us. Although there was only a curtain for privacy people were just happy that MSI was there. Over 50 women waited patiently to get an injectable contraceptive and the demand for short term contraceptive methods, counselling and education was huge. As was the number of safe birthing kits we distributed to pregnant women. I met one 39 year old mother of seven, who beamed when she came out of the monastery having just had an intrauterine device (IUD) fitted. In all, we spent four hours in the village and saw well over a hundred people before we moved onto the next village which was awaiting us.
Over the two days I was with the outreach team I visited many villages where MSI’s outreach services were often the only source of assistance they receiving. The devastation, the poor living conditions and the near homeliness is widespread. In one area we provided 90 women witb injectables and were immediately asked to come back a few weeks later to provide 70 women with IUD’s. The need for the services we provide is great and recognition of the impact that the MSI team has had since the cyclone is the warmth of the welcome we received every time we arrived at a new village.
Despite the challenging environment in which they are operating, the MSI team continue to demonstrate the utmost professionalism and dedication as they go about their work. The support that we’ve had since the Cyclone from donors like AusAID, the Hewlett Foundation and Direct Relief International has been invaluable and has helped us to achieve the impact we’ve had.”