International Save the Children Alliance
Save the Children reaches 100,000 with vital relief efforts in Myanmar
(May 12, 2008) Teams from Save the Children have now reached over 100,000 people who were affected by the deadly Cyclone Nagris. Relief supplies have reached 80,000 people around Yangon and 20,000 in the Irrawaddy delta. Save the Children has mobilised its 500 staff members in Myanmar to respond to the emergency and deliver much-needed food, water and other materials by truck and boat.
Save the Children has reached 80,000 people in four Yangon townships and has distributed 175 tons of relief supplies to affected families throughout the region. Supplies have included rice, water, oral-rehydration solution, blankets and materials for cooking and shelter.
Save the Children's country director in Myanmar, Andrew Kirkwood, said that the agency's first relief boat reached the delta area of Pyin Kayaing on Sunday. The team distributed rice, water, diarrhoea treatment, tarpaulins and rope to 9,395 people, including 2,350 children under 12, in 13 villages on Haing Gyi island. Families in this area are staying in crowded monasteries in living in makeshift shelters made from plastic sheeting.
A team in Myuang Mya visited 26 shelters over the space of two days and gave rice, oil, dahl and other supplies to the 11,599 people living there. People in the shelters were sleeping on the floor and said their biggest problems were the lack of latrines and that there was no doctor.
Working with UNHCR, Save the Children has been able to organise a truckload of tents, blankets and cooking kits, which is already on its way to the Delta. Save the Children has also arranged use of a warehouse in Yangon.
Two emergency experts arrived in country on Sunday to assist with the emergency response, one will focus on child protection, the other on logistics.
While relief efforts are expanding, staff members warn that clean water remains in short supply and many communities are still isolated and without help. The survival of tens of thousands of children and their families remains in doubt.
Weather forecasts are predicting five days of rain and wind across the zone most affected by the storm, which could compound the crisis and make conditions for people living in crowded shelters even worse.
"Aid is getting through and we are finding solutions to many of the challenges we are facing. But time is of the essence, and we must assist as many people as possible in the coming days," said Dan Collison, Save the Children's South East Asia programme manager. "Survivors are facing severe threats to their health - from waterborne disease, malaria, from sleeping out in the open and from having to go so many days with little food and water. Already we are seeing numerous cases of diarrhea, a major killer of young children."
Throughout the delta region, many villages have been devastated, with thousands of homes destroyed, and more than 3,000 schools damaged. The low-lying Irawaddy Delta suffered the effects of a sizable storm surge and many areas remain underwater, hampering relief efforts. Much of the delta is reachable only by boat.
"Save the Children is mobilising its staff - many of whom have also had their homes damaged - to reach vulnerable children and families in the hardest-hit areas," said Collison. "Shelter materials, clean water, mosquito nets and emergency health kits are critical needs at this time."
"The impending rains are likely to complicate an already desperate situation," said Collison. "The current lack of clean water will directly impact the health of children and their parents. And standing water only increases the possibility of an outbreak of waterborne illness. We need to move aid quickly to alleviate current hardships and mitigate the potential for a greater crisis."
Save the Children worldwide is seeking $10 million in donations for its response to the cyclone, which struck Myanmar's southwestern coast early on Saturday, May 3.
Save the Children currently operates programs in all five of the affected regions and has worked in Myanmar since 1995. As one of the largest nongovernmental organizations at work in Myanmar, the agency implements programs focused on early childhood care and development, child survival and child protection. All staff members are safe and accounted for, although their homes and families have been affected.
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