Monitoring visit to Myanmar in September 2008
The first day I stayed at the HQ in Y and tried to get as much information as possible to get ready for my trip to delta the following morning. The waking up was difficult and I was being nervous about coming on time and find the right place from where I was to depart to delta. The flights from Y to delta are run still by WFP. WFP has once already decided to stop running this service but the need was so high that they postponed the withdrawal by another several months. That morning two helicopters were going to delta. Each could hold up to 10 passengers that were all formed by different INGO or UN workers.
The heli is run by one Latvian company, the pilots seemed to be from Russia and Ukraine mainly, so that was quite interesting to find out. In L, where I was to get out, we arrived in the morning. The trip was only an hour long (opposed to 18 hours or so if going by car). The view was spectacular, lots of little rice paddies as well as lots of areas flooded by water.
L is a small town with couple of thousand of people. There is one hotel, but lots of little businesses as usual, the life is very similar to any country of this sort. Many poor houses as well as fair share of those from colonial times but nothing too spectacular looking, the town is rather poor, and also has been to some extent affected by the cyclone.
As soon as I arrived to our office, surprised by the amount of people cramped into one single room office, I changed my shoes (it was pouring rain outside), got a rain coat and 5 of us were to set of for a field trip to where our activities take place. In the port we all got into one motor rubber boat and set out for a day trip. The delta is formed of tens of little rivers that connect to bigger rivers. If the wind is low, there are no real waves, the river gets bit nastier as soon as you join from the little river into the big one, then the waves become bigger and the boat jumps up and down as the driver speeds through. The rain kept on coming down and even though we were covered by the raincoats, the rain slowly made its way to soak us. It was amazing drive, as you sit on the rubber side of the boat (in few minutes your butt gets sore) and you hold on to ropes to stay safely in the boat.
In some 3 hours we made it to our destination. The whole trip we were passing by villages in places where one would never look for them. All the houses were made of some bamboos or banana leafs, roofs or sides/walls repaired by blue tarpaulin sheets. The water levels were high as the tide was in, many lands thus looked no foot can step there… as if the water was too high, having the grass and trees stick out through its surface. Many houses were built on sticks to avoid the water.
There are mainly fishermen living in these areas. We kept on meeting boats with men rowing. The current was so strong, I was surprised to see how fast they were moving. One on motor boat, we had to look out of the nets and fields with sharps sticks that were put in the water for fishing purposes. The very sad part was that when the cyclone came, it was the nets as well as the sticks – the livelihood – that killed the locals. When the cyclone was gone, many were found stuck in the nets, and many were found stabbed by the sticks. The wind/cyclone was so fast, that one man said that what takes him 3 hours on motor boat, the cyclone made him pass in 5 min! People thus tried to tie themselves to trees to avoid being taken by the wind. Many of those though drowned when the wave that followed the cyclone came and the people stayed tied to the trees under the water. Mothers, to save their children, were putting the smallest ones into ceramic jars that were floating on water. Many kids were saved that way. Many may have flown too far and may have never been found. Many kinds stayed alive but yet were not united with their parents.
There was one man, who lived with his family in delta. He left his wife and kids to go visit his parents to other village bit further away from his home. When he heard of the cyclone, he has quickly returned to his home village to find the village flattened by the cyclone and the family gone. He returned for his parents to find the same picture, the parents gone. There were hundreds of similar stories and many people did not have courage to return too close to the water.
The village we arrived to was the furthest village where my organization works. It is right by the ocean. We were to see/participate on some of the activities there, etc. before we were to return. The problematic part of activity implementation is that our organization works solely in the delta and the only ways of transportation are boats. The closest village to L is approx. 45 min, the farthest one over 3 hours. There are some 106 altogether.
We set for the trip back after 3pm, the clouds disappeared and the weather was really nice. We finally managed to dry. The river waters are very warm even when it is raining which really surprises me. We were quite lucky with the weather, as the rains are fine, the wind would make the trip a lot scarier. The weather usually changes very fast. When going back, the tide is low. It was fascinating to watch how all the banks that were previously under the water suddenly appeared. The level went at least by 1-2m down. So returning was as if speeding through different place and as the sun was setting the views from the boat were incredible. The trip back took longer than expected and it started to get dark rapidly. One of the guys had a flash lamp, so the last few kilometers we were speeding through dark waters of river meanders but to reach L safely.
The conditions for work in the delta are not easy. There are lots of staff based in the delta and many are meant to travel everyday no matter the weather conditions. In case the weather though turns out too bad, it is forbidden to get back on the rivers, thus where ever the team turns out to be, they might get stuck at that camp / village for few hours, maybe even days if the weather (potentially the waves) do not get better.
The second day in delta we were to visit two more villages that were not that far away. We were driven to the port on this little tractor as the car broke down. We were leaving the port in the morning with the sun above our heads (and got pretty burnt). The first village we visited, there were still quite visible marks that the cyclone left. The trees broken or uprooted, the land flattened but new sheds were built all over. Some companies from Y build little wooden houses in the villages, where those who are lucky from the locals get to be drawn to live.
Straight after we left the village, the boat’s engine started to behave weird. Anyways, we managed to arrive to the other village. By that time the weather started to change and when getting back on the boat, it was already drizzling and the waves were getting harsh. We were at the mouth between two peninsulas and the river was fairly wide. We managed to cross it but then the engine as if stopped reacting. We slowly arrived to the closest camp which was fortunately not too far away, got permission to stay there while waiting for another speed boat to come and get us. The guys checked the engine and then we set on the „road“ again to meet the rescue boat somewhere half way. We climbed from one boat to another on the river and then sailed for the port. The other boat, being lighter now, managed to go bit faster.
The rain started to poor down and the drops were like little glass pieces prickling the face. We covered into the raincoats but soon all of us were soaking wet. When we came to eye distance from L suddenly the engine stopped. We ran out of fuel. The problem was that the other barrel in the boat was pretty much empty. The current is fairly strong, so two of us started to row not to get drawn too far away from the port. In between our driver managed to suck out some little leftovers from the second barrel and I believe it was fuel fumes that we were speeding on back to the port. It was dark, the rain kept on pouring down when we arrived. All wet we sat in the car to be driven back to the office.
The heli is run by one Latvian company, the pilots seemed to be from Russia and Ukraine mainly, so that was quite interesting to find out. In L, where I was to get out, we arrived in the morning. The trip was only an hour long (opposed to 18 hours or so if going by car). The view was spectacular, lots of little rice paddies as well as lots of areas flooded by water.
L is a small town with couple of thousand of people. There is one hotel, but lots of little businesses as usual, the life is very similar to any country of this sort. Many poor houses as well as fair share of those from colonial times but nothing too spectacular looking, the town is rather poor, and also has been to some extent affected by the cyclone.
As soon as I arrived to our office, surprised by the amount of people cramped into one single room office, I changed my shoes (it was pouring rain outside), got a rain coat and 5 of us were to set of for a field trip to where our activities take place. In the port we all got into one motor rubber boat and set out for a day trip. The delta is formed of tens of little rivers that connect to bigger rivers. If the wind is low, there are no real waves, the river gets bit nastier as soon as you join from the little river into the big one, then the waves become bigger and the boat jumps up and down as the driver speeds through. The rain kept on coming down and even though we were covered by the raincoats, the rain slowly made its way to soak us. It was amazing drive, as you sit on the rubber side of the boat (in few minutes your butt gets sore) and you hold on to ropes to stay safely in the boat.
In some 3 hours we made it to our destination. The whole trip we were passing by villages in places where one would never look for them. All the houses were made of some bamboos or banana leafs, roofs or sides/walls repaired by blue tarpaulin sheets. The water levels were high as the tide was in, many lands thus looked no foot can step there… as if the water was too high, having the grass and trees stick out through its surface. Many houses were built on sticks to avoid the water.
There are mainly fishermen living in these areas. We kept on meeting boats with men rowing. The current was so strong, I was surprised to see how fast they were moving. One on motor boat, we had to look out of the nets and fields with sharps sticks that were put in the water for fishing purposes. The very sad part was that when the cyclone came, it was the nets as well as the sticks – the livelihood – that killed the locals. When the cyclone was gone, many were found stuck in the nets, and many were found stabbed by the sticks. The wind/cyclone was so fast, that one man said that what takes him 3 hours on motor boat, the cyclone made him pass in 5 min! People thus tried to tie themselves to trees to avoid being taken by the wind. Many of those though drowned when the wave that followed the cyclone came and the people stayed tied to the trees under the water. Mothers, to save their children, were putting the smallest ones into ceramic jars that were floating on water. Many kids were saved that way. Many may have flown too far and may have never been found. Many kinds stayed alive but yet were not united with their parents.
There was one man, who lived with his family in delta. He left his wife and kids to go visit his parents to other village bit further away from his home. When he heard of the cyclone, he has quickly returned to his home village to find the village flattened by the cyclone and the family gone. He returned for his parents to find the same picture, the parents gone. There were hundreds of similar stories and many people did not have courage to return too close to the water.
The village we arrived to was the furthest village where my organization works. It is right by the ocean. We were to see/participate on some of the activities there, etc. before we were to return. The problematic part of activity implementation is that our organization works solely in the delta and the only ways of transportation are boats. The closest village to L is approx. 45 min, the farthest one over 3 hours. There are some 106 altogether.
We set for the trip back after 3pm, the clouds disappeared and the weather was really nice. We finally managed to dry. The river waters are very warm even when it is raining which really surprises me. We were quite lucky with the weather, as the rains are fine, the wind would make the trip a lot scarier. The weather usually changes very fast. When going back, the tide is low. It was fascinating to watch how all the banks that were previously under the water suddenly appeared. The level went at least by 1-2m down. So returning was as if speeding through different place and as the sun was setting the views from the boat were incredible. The trip back took longer than expected and it started to get dark rapidly. One of the guys had a flash lamp, so the last few kilometers we were speeding through dark waters of river meanders but to reach L safely.
The conditions for work in the delta are not easy. There are lots of staff based in the delta and many are meant to travel everyday no matter the weather conditions. In case the weather though turns out too bad, it is forbidden to get back on the rivers, thus where ever the team turns out to be, they might get stuck at that camp / village for few hours, maybe even days if the weather (potentially the waves) do not get better.
The second day in delta we were to visit two more villages that were not that far away. We were driven to the port on this little tractor as the car broke down. We were leaving the port in the morning with the sun above our heads (and got pretty burnt). The first village we visited, there were still quite visible marks that the cyclone left. The trees broken or uprooted, the land flattened but new sheds were built all over. Some companies from Y build little wooden houses in the villages, where those who are lucky from the locals get to be drawn to live.
Straight after we left the village, the boat’s engine started to behave weird. Anyways, we managed to arrive to the other village. By that time the weather started to change and when getting back on the boat, it was already drizzling and the waves were getting harsh. We were at the mouth between two peninsulas and the river was fairly wide. We managed to cross it but then the engine as if stopped reacting. We slowly arrived to the closest camp which was fortunately not too far away, got permission to stay there while waiting for another speed boat to come and get us. The guys checked the engine and then we set on the „road“ again to meet the rescue boat somewhere half way. We climbed from one boat to another on the river and then sailed for the port. The other boat, being lighter now, managed to go bit faster.
The rain started to poor down and the drops were like little glass pieces prickling the face. We covered into the raincoats but soon all of us were soaking wet. When we came to eye distance from L suddenly the engine stopped. We ran out of fuel. The problem was that the other barrel in the boat was pretty much empty. The current is fairly strong, so two of us started to row not to get drawn too far away from the port. In between our driver managed to suck out some little leftovers from the second barrel and I believe it was fuel fumes that we were speeding on back to the port. It was dark, the rain kept on pouring down when we arrived. All wet we sat in the car to be driven back to the office.
Labels: Myanmar
posted by Mart'a at 6:53 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home