Nargis Relief Trip (2008/05/31)

At first we planned to go to delta area on Saturday, 24 May 2008. Unfortunately, we were unable to organise trip on that day due to strictly controlled roads and it was the day for us to vote for Government Referendum. We heard some donor groups were seized by the authority without reasons at that time.
Finally, we had a chance to visit to some villages which were affected by Nargis, with great supports from officers, staff members and their friends. We would like to say special thanks to Kaykhine as she organised car and gave us contact address of the people who are always ready to help donor groups to show the ways to get Nargis affected villages. We definitely didn’t know what would happen if we went down there without their helps. They helped us from the start to the end in our 5 ½ hours boat trip.
At 5 am in the morning of Saturday, 31 May 2008, Matt and Linda picked up canned foods, Chilli powders packets, Biscuits and assorted clothes at the Embassy with Lite Ace Pickup and headed to Myay Ni Gone, Sanchaung to pick up Muyar, Ko Tint Aung and party. After picked them up at Myay Ni Gone, they headed to Bayint Naung Rice Warehouses to meet up with other group. The Lite Ace group consisted Matt, Linda, Ko Tint Aung, Muyar, Ko Phone (Muyar’s husband) and U Maung (Ko Phone’s uncle). At the same time, Sae De, Mya, Min Thant (Mya’s husband), Aunty Nyo (Min Thant’s aunty), and Ko Pauk (Min Thant’s brother) were heading to Bayint Naung with 14 ft Canter to load rice bags and to meet with Ko Tint Aung and party. Ko Myo (Thin Thin’s husband) came and joined us in Bayint Naung Bus stand.
We started our journey at about 8 am. We had some shuffle at this point. Matt, Ko Myo, Sae De and Min Thant followed with the Canter and the rest of us went with the Ace. All went well except 14 ft Canter’s flat tyre problem at Shan Ywa in Twante Township. It took about 45 minutes to replace the inner rear tyer with a new one. We arrived Dedaye at 1130 without any other problems. Kaykhine’s cousin was very much helpful.
She asked her son, Yan Kyaw to follow with us in order to show the way and help us. Yan Kyaw and his 2 friends joined with us in Dedaye. So our group expanded to 20 members.
We hired 2 boats to fit 80 rice bags but we went to the villages together. It was really sad to see hopless faces on the way to the villages nearby Dedaye. Along the river side, we saw many destroyed rice mills with empty warehouses and empty eyes.
The villages we had been were like hidden places and hardly seen from the river. We had to get into a small path to get those places. We had a chance to visit 5 different villages and 2 of them had never been received any assistance from anyone, any group or the government. They looked stunned at first they saw our boats with full of rice bags and strangers. We asked them where we should park our boats and then they realised what we meant. They were so happy when they saw white rice. The most of the unhusked rice they had stored in their houses was swept away by high tide but very few of them remained. They managed to send
those unhusked rice with someone to go to rice mills in Dedaye. After processing, they received yellow colour broken rice. It smells nasty. It causes stomach problems to elders and children.
We saw 2 decaying bodies of buffalos in the river. People said some of them lost their family members, some gone mad, but everyone does not know how to survive. They managed to cremate most human bodies left in the paddy fields but unable to collect all. Some corpses drowned under the river already. The students have nothing to do but to find fish, small river crabs, etc to eat. They have no pencil, no book and no school.
We got back to Yangon around 2030, but the last one to drop was Matt who got home about 2230pm.
Although it was a very tiring trip both to our mind and body, we are planning to go down there again. Due to the lack of time in most weekends and unable to stay overnight there, we have to find another suitable date and time for all of us. The delighted faces there will never fade away from our minds.

The villages we visited and the items we donated are –

Place: Taw Hla Village
Estimated Households: 85 families
Casualties: 5 people and all of the livestock

Houses were swept away by 5 ½ foot high waves. People there have received some clothes and bad yellowed rice before.

Rice Bag 10 bags
Canned Fish 85 cans
Biscuits 87 packets
Exercise Books 20 dozens
Chilli Powders 80 sachets
Clothes assorted



Place: Auk Kwin We' Gyi Village
Estimated households: 70 families
Casualties: 3 people and most of the livestock

All houses were swept away by about 5 foot high waves. People there have received some clothes and bad yellowed rice before.

Rice Bag 9 bags
Canned Fish 70 cans
Biscuits 50 packets
Exercise Books 10 dozens
Chilli Powders * 70 sachets
Ba La Chaung † 70 sachets
Clothes assorted
Sweets, Jellies, etc assorted

* Chilli powder is one of the main ingredients of daily food preparation for Burmese people
† Ba La Chaung is the fried mixture of chilli, pounded dried fish or dried shrimp and fish sauce



Place: Dar Ma Lane Village
Estimated households: 60 families
Casualties: 5 people and 90% of the livestock

All houses were swept away by about 5 foot high waves. People there have never received any foods and clothes.

Rice Bag 11 bags
Canned Fish 60 cans
Biscuits 60 packets
Exercise Books 10 dozens
Ba La Chaung † 60 packets
Clothes assorted
Sweets, Jellies, etc assorted

Buddhist Monastery
Rice Bag 1 bag
Melamine Plates 23 pcs
Thermo-flasks 2 pcs
Ba La Chaung † some sachets
Pone Yae GyiΨ some sachets
Instant Noodles some packets

Canned Fish 2 cans
† Ba La Chaung is the fried mixture of chilli, pounded dried fish or dried shrimp and fish sauce
Ψ Pone Yae Gyi is Soya paste Burmese people cook or mix with onion and oil as a salad



Place: Kyone Hok Village
Estimated households: 145 families
Casualties: 30 people, 80 % of the livestock

All houses were swept away by about 5 foot high waves. People there had received some foods and clothes.
They also received some onion bags, potato bags, clothes and plastic wears also from another donor group arrived the same time with us.

Rice Bag 18 bags
Canned Fish 145 cans
Biscuits some packets
Exercise Books 25 dozens
Ba La Chaung † 60 packets
Clothes assorted
Sweets, Jellies, etc assorted

† Ba La Chaung is the fried mixture of chilli, pounded dried fish or dried shrimp and fish sauce



Place: Than Phat Village Tract (consisting 3 villages)
Estimated households: 450 families
Casualties: 50 people and most of the livestock

All houses were swept away by about 6 foot high waves. People there have received some rice bags, foods and clothes before.

Rice Bag 31 bags
Canned Fish 367 cans
Biscuits all that remained
Ba La Chaung † all that remained
Clothes all that remained
Sweets, Jellies, etc all that remained

† Ba La Chaung is the fried mixture of chilli, pounded dried fish or dried shrimp and fish sauce


We would like to thank our colleagues form office: our officers, Ma Mya Thet, Ma Thin, Ko Soe Soe & Ma Phyo Phyo, Uncle Francis, Ma Sally, Ko Midgie, Ma Khawn Ja, Ehsekhu, Ma Kay Khine, Uncle Thwin, and Ko AM Thein. We know we can always count on you being ready to help those who are in need. Anyway, we really thank them all the same and appreciate their assistance.
We would also like to thank Ko Kyi, Mi Mi and Myat Lay from BC, not only for being good friends for us, but also for their generosity and kind-heartedness. Our thanks to May Kyel and Thiri for they made our contribution reached to the amount we had not initially thought possible. We could help the Nargis victims with the capacity more than what we had intended at first because of their support.
Our thanks go to Daw Thin Thin Yi, Ko Yan Kyaw, Ko Phoe Kyaw and other local volunteers for their most efficient assistance.
We also like to thank Uncle Kyaw, Linda's friend Wai, Ko Kaung Pyae, Ma Muyar's friend Ko Thura, Ko Min Thant's friends Ko Hsan Htun & Ko Htun Lin, and Ko Tint's friend Ko Ye Thein Win.
Finally, we would like to thank our crew members, for without their contribution this trip would not have taken place.