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Cyclone Nargis cut a swath of destruction across Myanmar’s southern coast on 2-3 May 2008.

More than 130,000 people, including tens of thousands of children, died or disappeared, while more than 1 million people lost their homes. In addition, the agriculture and fishing industries in the Irrawaddy Delta were devastated, leaving families with no way to earn an income or feed themselves.
The storm also flooded low-lying areas, contaminating wells, containment ponds and rivers. Salinity of these traditional sources of drinking water remains high. As the dry season begins this month in Myanmar, families will have few options for obtaining clean drinking water, increasing the risk of disease.

“The water shortage that typically comes with the dry season is being exacerbated by the unusually high salt content in water sources in the Delta — a lingering result of the cyclone,” said Andrew Kirkwood, Save the Children’s country director in Myanmar. “The lack of clean water will directly impact the health of children. Scarce family resources will be further strained if they must purchase water, as will relationships among communities if they must compete for this resource.”

 

Save the Children's response

Save the Children is planning to implement a variety of measures to increase access to safe water (including setting up reverse-osmosis desalination plants) and improve families’ ability to cope over the coming months and monitor children’s health.

Save the Children also will continue to assist farmers, fishermen and others to rejuvenate their livelihoods and incomes, a program all the more critical if families are to deal with the potential financial shock of a water shortage.

“Restoring the means to earn a living is vital to helping vulnerable families pay additional expenses, including medical costs,” said Kirkwood. “It is expensive to rebuild one’s life, and even more so for the poor. Any new financial obligations could force people to make difficult choices in regard to the food they buy or whether they can send their children to school.”

Delivering Education in Emergencies

Six months after the devastating Myanmar cyclone, Save the Children has shown that quality education can and should be provided in the aftermath of an emergency.

The cyclone destroyed 50-60% of schools, yet over the past six months Save the Children has improved the quality of education for over 100,000 children including the construction of over 350 temporary schools.

Watch the Video

 

Background 

Save the Children has been working in Myanmar for 13 years and is one of the largest nongovernmental organizations operating in the country. Save the Children’s ongoing emergency-response programs are focused on child protection, food aid, health and nutrition, education assistance, shelter, and water and sanitation. To date, the organization — which is working in 14 of the 15 hardest-hit townships — has reached nearly 500,000 people with lifesaving food and water, shelter materials, and household and hygiene items.

 

We still need your help:

• Donate online
• Download a Myanmar Burma Cyclone Donation Form [Adobe PDF, 69 Kb] and post it or fax it to us, or
• Call our toll free number 1800 76 00 11 and donate over the phone.
• Send us a cheque/money order payable to Save the Children Australia. Forward it to Burma Emergency Appeal, Save the Children, PO Box 340, Fitzroy VIC 3065. Make sure to enclose your name and address for receipting purposes.