Cyclone efforts shift towards long-term needs in Myanmar

June 25, 2008

Five planeloads of World Vision’s relief supplies landed in Yangon airport on Friday, June 20. This latest delivery represents a final push of relief provisions before programmes turn to longer-term unmet needs.

The C130 Hercules flights brought urgently needed supplies, including 20,000 tarpaulins, bumping last week’s air deliveries to seven, the highest frequency seen yet.

Despite the many obstacles, World Vision is getting the job done, says Relief Manager, Steve Goudswaard.

World Vision’s relief efforts are being carried out, despite heavy rains, poor road conditions and poor communications. In some areas, aid workers are resorting to small boats to get aid to affected communities, travelling one to two hours by boat between villages in the Delta.

The supplies from last week’s airlifts will allow World Vision to speed up its distributions which are targeting 220,000 beneficiaries across Yangon and the Ayeyarwaddy Delta. 

The process for granting visas and permission for international relief specialists to work in Myanmar has also been slower than aid agencies would like. Yet, all 16 visas so far requested by World Vision have been granted. 11 international staff are currently part of the response team based in Myanmar’s former capital city, Yangon. World Vision has more than 600 national staff working in Myanmar.

Travel authorisation is required for international staff traveling to World Vision programmes in the Delta region. World Vision has so far sent six international staff to the Delta, and is awaiting permission for two more to travel over the coming week. National staff have no such constraints on travel and have been able to freely access cyclone-affected regions.

Warnings of impending epidemics have yet to materialise. Reports from World Vision staff in the Delta suggest that communities are coping with the situation, and are beginning to turn towards rebuilding their lives.

The reasons for their resilience, explained Relief Manager, Steve Goudswaard, who recently returned from three days in the Delta, has to do with immediate mobilisation by the affected communities themselves. “What we found were communities did not simply wait for relief to arrive,” he said. “They turned to each other for support while local aid workers and volunteers began distributing locally sourced goods,” he continued.

As more aid flows in, organisations like World Vision continue to work to the best of their ability to ensure international warnings of disease outbreak do not become a reality. The past seven weeks have seen staff tirelessly distributing food, clothing, cooking utensils, water treatment systems, and health supplies to some 350,000 people.

The logistics team for the Nargis response, as of June 17, has procured more than 90,000 tarpaulins, more than 100,000 mosquito nets, and nearly 75,000 blankets, among other supplies.

Nearly 600 metric tons of food has been distributed to more than 280,000 people.

World Vision is also providing support to affected children through 44 Child Friendly Spaces.