Hope returns to ravaged country

A year after Cyclone Nargis floodwaters claimed the lives of most of his family, Linm Moe counts himself lucky. By clinging to floating timber, the 12-year-old survived the tidal surge which carried him 50km from his village.

After seeing his mother grasp hold of a tree and his baby brother sink under the water, Linm says he grabbed a piece of wood. "I held on tightly until I woke up in a cemetery," he remembers.

When he was found, Linm was in such a state of shock he had no idea who he was or where he had come from. Rescuers think he must have held on to his piece of wood all night, for at least 10 hours, because it took that long for the 4m-high tide that submerged his island the Ayeyarwaddy delta to recede.

It is a year since Cyclone Nargis wrecked havoc on Myanmar.

The United Nations estimates 138,366 people were killed, and 2.5 million left homeless. Among these were more than 1700 children, presumed orphaned.

For 20 days, Linm was in the care of the family who found him until aid agency World Vision traced his family, following his father's missing persons notification. But the sweetness of reconciliation was dulled by the discovery his mother and three siblings had died.

Aid groups have successfully reunited 196 children with their extended families; a further 1500 are having their long-term care formalised with the people who found them.

Children like Linm, who have a living mother or father, have the light of hope in their eyes and laugh readily. The eyes of orphans hold a deep sadness.

Tracing the families of orphans is a complex task in communities like Myanmar where village children do not have addresses and telephone numbers.

During the emergency, World Vision set up 108 places for 17,000 children - safe environments where they can play, study and learn about their rights to protection, education, and to grow up in a family environment.

As Myanmar moves into the Nargis rehabilitation phase, these children's centres are becoming early childhood schools, offering non-formal education for children who work in the fields or care for babies because their parents cannot afford to pay for schooling.

New Zealanders raised $1.5 million for the Cyclone Nargis survivors. When we visited Myanmar to see first-hand how the aid money had been spent, we saw blue emergency tarpaulins on roofs and walls giving protection as people sheltered in patched homes. The rebuilding of their houses has been delayed because much of the the bamboo, which they plait for walls, and the banana palms they thatch for their roofs, has been washed away.

With international support, Myanmar is working to reduce the impact of natural disasters. The plan includes building cyclone-resistant schools to double as disaster shelters.

Boats, livestock and simple farm equipment are being given to communities who have lost everything, including their animals. These people, who live simply, eat two rice meals a day with a taste of protein on the side and farm using ox-drawn ploughs.

Hundreds of community water ponds still require decontamination after bodies were swept into them. Temporary water purification systems are providing water for more than 100,000 people.

For long-term water security, vulnerable families are being provided with ceramic pots, costing US$20 ($35), which filter a 10-litre bucket of drinkable water. The people of Myanmar say they want New Zealanders to know how grateful they are for the support and hope they have been given.

* Jenny Macintyre works for World Vision New Zealand.