Nargis

I have spent much of this week talking with Cyclone Nargis survivors. In many regards, the stories I am hearing are similar to those I was told in Tamil Nadu, after the tsunami, but they are also in many ways different. Here, the flood and wave that swept away so many of their family was preceded by a frightening storm, and winds that took the roofs off most of their houses. And the aftermath was not just about survival and recovery, but contending with a government which had an agenda which didn't always prioritize survivors' needs. The delta remained flooded, and rivers swollen, for some time. Rivers that had to be crossed, by holding onto bamboo poles, or constructing makeshift rafts, to get to higher ground, or relief centers, on the other side. One village which previously had a population of 1,800 has only 400 survivors. A man from a different village had his parents and seven of his nine siblings die. After finally reaching a place of safety, with food and water available, they were very soon forced to return to their villages (or to where they had been previously located) by government troops. The supposition is that this was to ensure that people were at their registered place of residence so that the 'referendum' could continue as scheduled. Though some returns were delayed as villagers were forced to work for days or weeks to rebuild roads or other infrastructure. Its hard to know what to say to someone who has been through so much, who has lost so much.




























*photos borrowed from http://sanooaung.wordpress.com/2008/05/14/cyclone-nargis-photo-gallery-from-yahoo-part-1/
and
http://www.popsci.com/environment/article/2008-05/ripple-effect-wake-cyclone-nargis