'These are the nightmares for all the people of Myanmar'

Dr. Yiyi Cho was in Yangon when Cyclone Nargis ripped through Myanmar's southern coast, leaving more than 130,000 people dead or missing. Making sure her own daughter was safe with family, Dr. Cho rushed to the CARE office to find out how CARE would respond to help some of the more than two million survivors in need.

When the cyclone hit, my first thoughts were for my daughter. Many houses here were damaged or destroyed, and my colleagues were all in shock. Now, everyone is busy. We are too busy for emotion. But this is our country. It is hard to see the people affected by the storm. We all have friends or family who were hit by the cyclone.

Two days ago, we went to a village near the sea. On the way into the village, there were the bodies of two little children. Both of them were the same age as my daughter. She is nine. As a mother, I was shocked. I had to look away; it has been two weeks since the cyclone.

I wondered where their mother is, what she must be going through if she is alive, without her children. I thought of what I would have done; would I have been able to save my daughter?

In the village, I met an old woman, alone. She was 70 years old. When the cyclone hit, she climbed a tree to escape the floods. She had one grandson and one granddaughter. The girl was in Grade 7, very bright, the top of her class. Her grandson was in fourth grade. Both of them lived with their grandmother in the village. Their parents were working in the paddy field, near the sea.

The day before the cyclone, the grandchildren went to visit their parents. Then the storm came, and the grandchildren and their parents died. Now, the old woman is alone.

CARE is distributing family survival kits to survivors, so they have the basics like candles, clothing, and blankets. But the old woman donated her family survival kit to another family, in the memory of her daughter, and her son-in-law, and her two small grandchildren. She was crying.

Most of the people are sitting on the road asking for food. Their homes are destroyed. These are the nightmares for all the people of Myanmar. The people ask for help. They ask for rice, rice, rice. Shelter and food is the most important for them. When we give aid, people are very happy. They tell us to come again. And they tell us other people still need help.

We will go back to this village tomorrow and distribute more food and emergency supplies to 3,750 households. I will look again for this woman.

My daughter asks me what I am doing to help. I tell her I am doing everything I can.

www.reliefweb.int

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