Myanmar - rebuilding lives

Up until 2nd May, 2008, it was business as usual for U Myint Khine and the rest of the community of Gyo Wah Kyauk Ye. That was the day Cyclone Nargis ripped through Myanmar’s Delta region, destroying a 2 foot-wide brick road, built and paid for by the villagers.

These coconut and rice farmers, living a few hours boat ride from Pyapon city centre, knew that improved access to a commercial jetty would enable them to sell their crops for higher prices in bigger markets. That one small road was supposed to change the face of their village forever.

The road was half completed when Cyclone Nargis took away what was so arduous to build.

“We had a plan, the makings of a road and the resources to build it,” says Mr Khine. “Each family gave money – the richer families put in 2,000 Kyats (around £1), poorer ones only 1,000 Kyats and the very big business owners gave 5,000 Kyats,” he continues.

The road building work restarted again in February 2009 when World Vision kicked-off a food-for-work programme. Often introduced after a big disaster, food-for-work assists communities that are still struggling to feed their loved ones, often due to a lack of income-earning opportunities.  When a villager signs up, he or she takes home pre-determined amounts of rice to sustain them while they help rebuild roads, bridges and buildings so badly needed to strengthen the community.

Mr Khine says 60 per cent of his village was out of work after the cyclone. “Our people farm rice, coconuts, bananas and flowers,” Mr Khine explains. “We are waiting for our summer harvest which overall isn’t expected to be too good. The next planting season starts in June so many people are unemployed right now.”

World Vision’s Field Coordinator, Adino, says there are generally three kinds of workers in the Delta area: paddy field owners, fisherman and daily wage earners. He says: “The food-for-work programme is aimed at helping the poorest of the poor; in this case, daily wage earners who are unable to find work in the field or on fishing boats.”

“The dry season harvest is always smaller than the wet harvest. This year has been particularly challenging because food stocks that people would normally fall back on were taken by the cyclone. So, we’ve introduced the food-for-work programme so people can provide for their families until more jobs open up with the coming planting season,” Adino says.

The brick road, 6,000 feet long in one direction and 1,750 feet in the other, is not only a means for economic development after the cyclone. It is also an opportunity to provide greater protection for children from neighbouring villages who presently have to wade across chest-deep rivers to attend school in the morning.

Mr Khine is confident the road will soon be completed. He says the village is hopeful that the new road will help them transport and sell grain from the next harvest.