Trying to return to a normal life

On a rice farm in Tha Pyay Chaung village in the Ayeyarwady delta, three orphaned siblings work hard. Tin Win Zaw, Ye Myint Htun, and Than Than Mar, aged 20, 17 and 15 lost their parents and youngest brother in Cyclone Nargis, which devastated the Ayeyarwady delta and surrounding areas in early May 2008..

The three were also swept away and separated by the water surge, but they escaped death. Tin Win Zaw clung to a floating log but passed out in the strong currents. When he regained consciousness, he found himself on a tree with his sister, Than Than Mar and cousin, Mg Mg Zaw, 20. They made their way back to their village two days after the cyclone and found their brother, Ye Myint Htun there.

Saving the family farm

The siblings’ father had heard the cyclone warning over the radio. He alerted neighbours, calling them to seek refuge in his farm house, one of the stronger ones in the area, but not strong enough to protect the villagers. Out of the 30 people who sought refuge in the house, 18 died.

Today, the siblings are trying their best to salvage their parents’ 20‐acre farm. Not only the building but also the soil was temporarily destroyed by the intrusion of salt water.

“We can’t make any money from the farm yet. We lost buffalos and fowl as well. So we have to count on relatives for food and clothing”, explains Tin Win Zaw.

Difficult times

The three siblings now live in the farm’s granary. They wake up every day at about 5am. While Than Than Mar stays at home to do the cooking and, her brothers work in the field, their efforts still seem to be in vain more than 18 months after the disaster. “Despite some help we received from neighbours, the paddy is not growing. We will have to pull out the plants and get new seeds from other fields in nearby villages”, says Tin Win Zaw.

Tha Pyay Chaung village is located in Mawlamyinegyun township. There were 69 people from the village who died or went missing – including the siblings’ parents and brother.

In the aftermath of the disaster, the siblings received some relief supplies such as food and hygiene kits, as well as a tarpaulin sheet through the Red Cross. However, as they actually own a farm, they were not categorized as being among the “most vulnerable groups”.

100,000 families to be helped

The MRCS relief and recovery operation, running until 2011, aims to assist a total of 100,000 affected families across 13 townships. Assistance is provided through: shelter, livelihoods, community‐based health and first aid, psychosocial support, water, sanitation and hygiene promotion, and disaster preparedness and risk reduction. The operation is conducted with the assistance of the IFRC.

Filled with sorrow

Along with their cousin Mg Mg Zaw, the siblings also received some much‐needed psychosocial support. For months after the disaster, the four of them were traumatised and haunted by the events and their losses. As the eldest, Tin Win Zaw has been filled with sorrow and a sense of guilt that he never found the bodies of his parents and youngest brother.

Si Thu Toe Nyunt, a health officer with the Red Cross Society in Mawlamyinegyun, who went out with assessment teams to affected villages during the emergency period, explains:

“We helped survivors share their feelings by listening to them when they talked about their ordeal. We also held their hands and sometimes hugged them. Sometimes, we cried with them and wiped away their tears”.

Tin Win Zaw is not the only one who felt guilt – it is a common feeling among survivors. Knowing that it is normal and that others share the same feeling is a comfort.

Tin Win Zaw and his siblings are grateful for the support and counseling they have received. “We can live a normal life now although it is hard.”