yangon august 26
Authority force Myanmar Computer professional Assoction( MCPA) not to join Myanmar Blogger days conference which will held on 31 st August .MPCA send invitaions letter which says they will sponsor world blogger days conference in Myanmar .They will held this conference together with local bloggers, They even told that U KHU OO, the chairman of MCPA and writer Kyaw Win will make address in this conference.
However, today MPCA make announcement which saying that They won´t sponsor Myanmar blogger day conference and they don´t have any concern with this conference. They won´t provide any help to bloggers. Now yangon blogger very conecern about this news.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
SECOND LIVES
A piece of worn out red cloth hang at the tip of a bamboo pole is flying with the blowing wind.
For donors and relief team volunteers, this is a sign that there are still people surviving Cyclone Nargis,
which . Along the course of a stream not far from that bamboo flat pole is a small village called “Kyun
Kone Pite Tan Su,” which was left devastated after the cyclone. Survivors from the nearby areas along
Yway River are now living in this “Kyun Kone Pite Tan Su” village where their huts in blue tarpaulin sheet
are located in a dispersed fashion. After the cyclone, these survivors came to this place to start over
their lives, second lives as named by the villagers, after Cyclone Nargis.
Cyclone Nargis came into the Irrawaddy Region and Rangoon division on May 2nd and 3rd, 2008.
It also brought a tremendous tragedy to this village, one of the hardest hit areas in the Irrawaddy region,
by killing almost everyone in the village and leaving approximately ten people alive. “My wife and five
children were washed away with the cyclone. Only 3 daughters and I have survived,” said U Tun, a 50
year‐ old fisherman.
These survivors have begun to make their moves for the reconstruction of their lives 3 weeks
after relief teams have come to the area. These survivors have been living in this village by building
temporary huts since after the cyclone. U Tun, who had lost everything in the cyclone except a small
vase, is now beginning to rebuild his life. He said he is not able to get back to his career for the moment
since he had lost his fishing tools in the cyclone. “Although farmers start preparing to go back to their
farms, I, as a fisherman, can’t do anything right now without any fishing tools and any money to buy
new ones. At present, I can only make my own living just to feed myself,” said U Tun.
Besides in Kyun Kone Pite Tan Su village, survivors in other hardly hit areas of the Irrawaddy
region including Laputta area begin to start their second lives that their karma have brought out of the
killer storm.
Painful Transition (or) Farming
U Tin Yein, wearing a white shirt and a cotton sarong, doesn’t look like an owner of a 40‐acre
farmland; he rather looks like a daily paid farmer. U Tin Yein said his farm can produce 3000 baskets of
rice annually. It is likely that tilling on his 40 acre‐land can begin in the first week of June. “I have to
collect tillers from the local Farm and Industrial department today. 3 other farmers and I have to share
a 160 acre land that the government has rationed to each group of 3 or 4 farmers,” said U Tin Yein.
U Tin Yein has lost his wife and his properties ‐ house, rice barn, boat, 9 buffaloes and 6 pigs – in
the cyclone. From the population of 60 in his village, 32 people had died from the cyclone and 13 were
his relatives. This has still been a nightmare for U Tin Yein and he has been seeing this deadly event
every morning he wakes up. While his life was half dead and half awake because of this nightmare, he
heard rumors about the plans/situations for rice plantation. “Farming and Industrial department has
rationed tillers, seeds and grains to those who have a large number of lands. If that rumor is true and if
we can get diesel, we can begin our plantation,” said U Tin Yein.
Upon hearing the same news, farmers staying at refugee camps in Laputta are also leaving to
the respective villages with the hope of picking up their lives from any situation. The number of
survivors has gradually decreased since after people have heard about this opportunity for their lives,
said Jeff Harvey from Laputta MSF’s branch.
Burma is one of the top countries in exporting rice just before the cyclone; however, Cyclone
Nargis caused a severe devastation in the Irrawaddy region, the area known as Burma’s rice bowl, on
May 2nd and 3rd. Thus, it is very important for the reconstruction of the Irrawaddy region as soon as
possible, said an FAO official.
According to the census of government’s Agriculture Department, the cyclone affected 0.13
million families in the Irrawaddy region and 0.11 million families. The total value of buffaloes and cows
lost is over 0.15 million kyats. The loss of farming animals has left the farmers with the only one option
– using tillers ‐ in order to start plowing for this Monsoon season. U Tin Yein, an owner of 40 acres
farmlands, said, “We have to start our farming as soon as tillers are distributed.”
The truth is that Nargis has given a painful transition of the lives of farmers who have to begin
their second lives out of nothing and to replace unfamiliar technology for their careers.
Painful Evening
Although most people begin preparing to rebuild their lives, there are still many people who
have suffered post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from the nightmares of Cyclone Nargis in the
Irrawaddy regions. They have lost their family members as well as every single property. Now, they are
left with nothing, but the repeatedly occurring nightmares.
U Pyinnyar Wontha, a monk from Too Myaung Village in Pya Pone Township, delivered Buddha’s
sermons to 12 PTSD patients. Comparing the current situation with Buddha’s sayings, he preached,
“You need to accept the reality.”
There is a Buddha’s story about a woman. Her husband died from snake bite, her youngest son
was taken by an eagle, her eldest son drowned, and her parents died in the fire. All these tragic
sequence of events finally led her to be a madwoman who couldn’t even put on her own clothes. After
she met with Buddha who opened her eyes to see the reality and gave her a sermon, she got well and
finally became a “Beikuni” (female Arahatta). U Pyinnyar delivered this story to those suffering patients
who, although, they can’t be Arahhta, might be able to get back to normal and see the reality.
A telecommunication officer, Jeff Harvey, told that they have started providing special
emotional support programs such as consulting with PTSD patients and hearing whatever they wanted
to vent out in Laputta. However, programs like these are still in need compared to the number of PTSD
patients caused by the cyclone. U Saing Phay Thein, a consultant supervisor from MRCS, has warned
that their lives are at stake with the lack of effective emotional support programs.
A 7 Day News Journal editor, Daw Aye Mya Kyaw, who went to Phukket just after Tsunami, said,
“I had seen a lot of PTSD patients in Thailand after the Tsunami even though Thailand has a stronger
infrastructure and more efficient health care access than Burma. Since the death toll caused by Nargis is
much greater, I expect there would be even more PTSD cases.”
In the middle of Something
The government state TV announced that there are over 0.13 million people dead and lost in
Cyclone Nargis. 22 villages had sunk under the cyclone even in Laputta Township alone. Government’s
announcements such as providing relief and rebuilding the lives of survivors together with the help of
International communities have been spreading around the country.
The government declared that it has already spent 70 billion dollars for reconstruction projects.
The reconstruction of fishery projects under the Fishery and Livestock Ministry is now in the process.
Since farmers always start plowing grains just before the Monsoon comes, this is a critical situation for
them to start farming after the cyclone had destroyed everything.
Since after the cyclone had destroyed a number of lives, everyone including Burmese citizens as
well as expatriate Burmese actively involved in delivering aids and helping in the reconstruction projects
in any ways they can. A permanent journalist of Voice Weekly Journal wrote about their kindness for
fellow citizens in the Emergency Management article: Experts had concerned about Burmese’s “social
Capital”; however, they have shocked to see their immediate responses for their fellow Burmese
survivor.
On the other hand, recovering from this kind of disaster aftermath is impossible with one man
or one nation’s work. Since “Scopes of work” is enormous along the reconstruction process, any
individuals, organizations or countries that put their hearts in a long‐term, systematic process to recover
from this disaster are indispensable for those survivors’ lives. An increasingly large number of young
volunteers involving in different kinds of activities, once after they had seen this tragedy, are proof for
every individual’s invaluable effort.
“Recovering process for Fisheries alone needs years to get back to normal,” said U Hla Mg Shwe,
a vice president of Myanmar Fisheries Association. He said that he has seen young people inside Burma
as well as expatriates who all left their good‐earning jobs to come back to Burma in order to help
survivors. On the other hand, there are still some critics who have not even offered a penny worth of
food or water to survivors.
Regardless of any situation, the most important fact is the rehabilitation of the lives of 1.5
million people who have nothing left after the cyclone. Thus, according to an anthropologist’s opinion,
everyone including the government as well as government’s opponents should altogether unite for
different reconstruction projects in different affected areas.
Figures have been floating around both in hands and in appeals: 2.1 billion dollars promised to
be funded by the United Nations, 5.6 million dollars currently received from international communities,
and 11 billion dollars Myanmar’s government has asked for. However, the question is that how these
figures will be effectively used in long‐term recovery projects. A volunteer in local NGO said, “when the
short‐term relief efforts are getting lesser and weaker, it needs to be assured to lessen the
consequences .
Noodle Row or Painful Hell
Along the streets near the main Strand Road of Laputta, there is a row of food stalls selling
cheap liquors and food beside the double Decker ships docked on the river bank. This row of food stalls
is known locally as “Noodle Row,” each of the stall having only 10 feet square, and they sell liquors and
Chinese food.
A man who is looking for daily paid field workers to work for his farm said, “I came here to look
for people to work for my farm, but now the working pattern has shifted. It’s more like a partnership
rather than hiring someone and paying them daily. With today’s situation, I have to give the person 1/3
commission on the profit since it’s not easier to find paid workers like the old days.”
Laputta Township used to have a population of 0.2 million before the cyclone had struck, but
thousands had died in the cyclone in this area. Some farmers and fishermen lost their lives; some
survived but lost all their families and properties. U Tin Yein, whose eyes filling with tears, recounted
how he lost his wife and relatives in the cyclone, “It started raining with a strong wind at about 2 in the
afternoon. Our house fell down at about 5 p.m. Then, my relatives and I had made our families and
children get in the boat, and we, seven men, pulled it with a rope to the palm trees nearby our house.
But, the storm was too strong and the boat sank to the bottom 5 hours later we left our house. I
couldn’t see anything at all. I only realized everyone had disappeared right before I tied up the rope to
the tree. At the end of his words, he kept his head down and wiped his tear. People like U Tin Yein have
something in common: they are now earning a living by opening small food stalls in this “Noodle Row”
and they all had lost their loved ones.
“I couldn’t even walk after the cyclone was over because I was clinging onto a tree trunk the
whole night in the cyclone,” said Ko Aung Thurein, a 20 year‐old boy from Kyar Chuang Village. “Every
survivor living here had lost their family members,” also said a villager living in a shop in Noodle Row.
Noodle Row gets more and more crowded at the sunset; however, the fact that this place is not
as noisy as food stalls in other big cities is slightly strange. Residents of Laputta Township mentioned
that these villagers are putting new strength to start their second lives by adding up different kinds of
hardship in Noodle Row to their unforgettable life experiences.
A Ray of Light from the Dark Cyclone
“Right now, the whole Laputta Township has enough food supply and shelter. Since this is Monsoon
season, people don’t need to worry about water. The most important thing left for the moment is
cleaning pounds for water storage and growing rice for this season,” said Jeff Harvey, a
telecommunication officer from Doctors without Boundary Association.
The amount of relief works were getting lesser one month after the cyclone and it seems to be a
sign for survivors that they have to start over their lives on their own. Farmers prepared to start
cultivating rice before June 18. According to the statistical data, loss of rice in Irrawaddy and Rangoon
was 0.7 million metric tons, including harvested stored‐rice and rice that was going to be harvested
before the cyclone hit.
Endless questions of how to face an uncertain future have been hanging around in every
survivor’s thought after one month of the cyclone. The intelligence and living standard of those
answering the questions will have enormous impact on their second lives. “Forget everything
happened. If I say so, it would mean that I have no sympathy. But, it’s true that we have to try to forget
this nightmare and must start our second lives,” said a 50 year old farmer from Kyun Kone Pite Tan Su
village. Only after they decide to start their second lives, their futures will be full of hopes. Lingering on
the tragedy would not bring any hopes or promises for their futures.
U Tun, a fisherman, said he found himself alive because he had been clinging to a plastic bucket
floating in the water. Now, he has to earn his living just as a daily paid worker. He said that he is
determined to go back to his place where he lost his wife and daughters.
U Tin Yein, a fisherman mentioned in the beginning, is now preparing to build a hut with all the
money he has. Then, he will start preparing for tilling on the farm that he got from the authorities.
The red worn out cloth is a signal of second lives of the survivors in Tae Tan Su Village. In other
words, that red flag represents the fact that they are still being alive for their second lives out of the
tragic nightmare. The villagers said, “Even though we have nothing left, the flag representing our lives
won’t be falling down.”
For donors and relief team volunteers, this is a sign that there are still people surviving Cyclone Nargis,
which . Along the course of a stream not far from that bamboo flat pole is a small village called “Kyun
Kone Pite Tan Su,” which was left devastated after the cyclone. Survivors from the nearby areas along
Yway River are now living in this “Kyun Kone Pite Tan Su” village where their huts in blue tarpaulin sheet
are located in a dispersed fashion. After the cyclone, these survivors came to this place to start over
their lives, second lives as named by the villagers, after Cyclone Nargis.
Cyclone Nargis came into the Irrawaddy Region and Rangoon division on May 2nd and 3rd, 2008.
It also brought a tremendous tragedy to this village, one of the hardest hit areas in the Irrawaddy region,
by killing almost everyone in the village and leaving approximately ten people alive. “My wife and five
children were washed away with the cyclone. Only 3 daughters and I have survived,” said U Tun, a 50
year‐ old fisherman.
These survivors have begun to make their moves for the reconstruction of their lives 3 weeks
after relief teams have come to the area. These survivors have been living in this village by building
temporary huts since after the cyclone. U Tun, who had lost everything in the cyclone except a small
vase, is now beginning to rebuild his life. He said he is not able to get back to his career for the moment
since he had lost his fishing tools in the cyclone. “Although farmers start preparing to go back to their
farms, I, as a fisherman, can’t do anything right now without any fishing tools and any money to buy
new ones. At present, I can only make my own living just to feed myself,” said U Tun.
Besides in Kyun Kone Pite Tan Su village, survivors in other hardly hit areas of the Irrawaddy
region including Laputta area begin to start their second lives that their karma have brought out of the
killer storm.
Painful Transition (or) Farming
U Tin Yein, wearing a white shirt and a cotton sarong, doesn’t look like an owner of a 40‐acre
farmland; he rather looks like a daily paid farmer. U Tin Yein said his farm can produce 3000 baskets of
rice annually. It is likely that tilling on his 40 acre‐land can begin in the first week of June. “I have to
collect tillers from the local Farm and Industrial department today. 3 other farmers and I have to share
a 160 acre land that the government has rationed to each group of 3 or 4 farmers,” said U Tin Yein.
U Tin Yein has lost his wife and his properties ‐ house, rice barn, boat, 9 buffaloes and 6 pigs – in
the cyclone. From the population of 60 in his village, 32 people had died from the cyclone and 13 were
his relatives. This has still been a nightmare for U Tin Yein and he has been seeing this deadly event
every morning he wakes up. While his life was half dead and half awake because of this nightmare, he
heard rumors about the plans/situations for rice plantation. “Farming and Industrial department has
rationed tillers, seeds and grains to those who have a large number of lands. If that rumor is true and if
we can get diesel, we can begin our plantation,” said U Tin Yein.
Upon hearing the same news, farmers staying at refugee camps in Laputta are also leaving to
the respective villages with the hope of picking up their lives from any situation. The number of
survivors has gradually decreased since after people have heard about this opportunity for their lives,
said Jeff Harvey from Laputta MSF’s branch.
Burma is one of the top countries in exporting rice just before the cyclone; however, Cyclone
Nargis caused a severe devastation in the Irrawaddy region, the area known as Burma’s rice bowl, on
May 2nd and 3rd. Thus, it is very important for the reconstruction of the Irrawaddy region as soon as
possible, said an FAO official.
According to the census of government’s Agriculture Department, the cyclone affected 0.13
million families in the Irrawaddy region and 0.11 million families. The total value of buffaloes and cows
lost is over 0.15 million kyats. The loss of farming animals has left the farmers with the only one option
– using tillers ‐ in order to start plowing for this Monsoon season. U Tin Yein, an owner of 40 acres
farmlands, said, “We have to start our farming as soon as tillers are distributed.”
The truth is that Nargis has given a painful transition of the lives of farmers who have to begin
their second lives out of nothing and to replace unfamiliar technology for their careers.
Painful Evening
Although most people begin preparing to rebuild their lives, there are still many people who
have suffered post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from the nightmares of Cyclone Nargis in the
Irrawaddy regions. They have lost their family members as well as every single property. Now, they are
left with nothing, but the repeatedly occurring nightmares.
U Pyinnyar Wontha, a monk from Too Myaung Village in Pya Pone Township, delivered Buddha’s
sermons to 12 PTSD patients. Comparing the current situation with Buddha’s sayings, he preached,
“You need to accept the reality.”
There is a Buddha’s story about a woman. Her husband died from snake bite, her youngest son
was taken by an eagle, her eldest son drowned, and her parents died in the fire. All these tragic
sequence of events finally led her to be a madwoman who couldn’t even put on her own clothes. After
she met with Buddha who opened her eyes to see the reality and gave her a sermon, she got well and
finally became a “Beikuni” (female Arahatta). U Pyinnyar delivered this story to those suffering patients
who, although, they can’t be Arahhta, might be able to get back to normal and see the reality.
A telecommunication officer, Jeff Harvey, told that they have started providing special
emotional support programs such as consulting with PTSD patients and hearing whatever they wanted
to vent out in Laputta. However, programs like these are still in need compared to the number of PTSD
patients caused by the cyclone. U Saing Phay Thein, a consultant supervisor from MRCS, has warned
that their lives are at stake with the lack of effective emotional support programs.
A 7 Day News Journal editor, Daw Aye Mya Kyaw, who went to Phukket just after Tsunami, said,
“I had seen a lot of PTSD patients in Thailand after the Tsunami even though Thailand has a stronger
infrastructure and more efficient health care access than Burma. Since the death toll caused by Nargis is
much greater, I expect there would be even more PTSD cases.”
In the middle of Something
The government state TV announced that there are over 0.13 million people dead and lost in
Cyclone Nargis. 22 villages had sunk under the cyclone even in Laputta Township alone. Government’s
announcements such as providing relief and rebuilding the lives of survivors together with the help of
International communities have been spreading around the country.
The government declared that it has already spent 70 billion dollars for reconstruction projects.
The reconstruction of fishery projects under the Fishery and Livestock Ministry is now in the process.
Since farmers always start plowing grains just before the Monsoon comes, this is a critical situation for
them to start farming after the cyclone had destroyed everything.
Since after the cyclone had destroyed a number of lives, everyone including Burmese citizens as
well as expatriate Burmese actively involved in delivering aids and helping in the reconstruction projects
in any ways they can. A permanent journalist of Voice Weekly Journal wrote about their kindness for
fellow citizens in the Emergency Management article: Experts had concerned about Burmese’s “social
Capital”; however, they have shocked to see their immediate responses for their fellow Burmese
survivor.
On the other hand, recovering from this kind of disaster aftermath is impossible with one man
or one nation’s work. Since “Scopes of work” is enormous along the reconstruction process, any
individuals, organizations or countries that put their hearts in a long‐term, systematic process to recover
from this disaster are indispensable for those survivors’ lives. An increasingly large number of young
volunteers involving in different kinds of activities, once after they had seen this tragedy, are proof for
every individual’s invaluable effort.
“Recovering process for Fisheries alone needs years to get back to normal,” said U Hla Mg Shwe,
a vice president of Myanmar Fisheries Association. He said that he has seen young people inside Burma
as well as expatriates who all left their good‐earning jobs to come back to Burma in order to help
survivors. On the other hand, there are still some critics who have not even offered a penny worth of
food or water to survivors.
Regardless of any situation, the most important fact is the rehabilitation of the lives of 1.5
million people who have nothing left after the cyclone. Thus, according to an anthropologist’s opinion,
everyone including the government as well as government’s opponents should altogether unite for
different reconstruction projects in different affected areas.
Figures have been floating around both in hands and in appeals: 2.1 billion dollars promised to
be funded by the United Nations, 5.6 million dollars currently received from international communities,
and 11 billion dollars Myanmar’s government has asked for. However, the question is that how these
figures will be effectively used in long‐term recovery projects. A volunteer in local NGO said, “when the
short‐term relief efforts are getting lesser and weaker, it needs to be assured to lessen the
consequences .
Noodle Row or Painful Hell
Along the streets near the main Strand Road of Laputta, there is a row of food stalls selling
cheap liquors and food beside the double Decker ships docked on the river bank. This row of food stalls
is known locally as “Noodle Row,” each of the stall having only 10 feet square, and they sell liquors and
Chinese food.
A man who is looking for daily paid field workers to work for his farm said, “I came here to look
for people to work for my farm, but now the working pattern has shifted. It’s more like a partnership
rather than hiring someone and paying them daily. With today’s situation, I have to give the person 1/3
commission on the profit since it’s not easier to find paid workers like the old days.”
Laputta Township used to have a population of 0.2 million before the cyclone had struck, but
thousands had died in the cyclone in this area. Some farmers and fishermen lost their lives; some
survived but lost all their families and properties. U Tin Yein, whose eyes filling with tears, recounted
how he lost his wife and relatives in the cyclone, “It started raining with a strong wind at about 2 in the
afternoon. Our house fell down at about 5 p.m. Then, my relatives and I had made our families and
children get in the boat, and we, seven men, pulled it with a rope to the palm trees nearby our house.
But, the storm was too strong and the boat sank to the bottom 5 hours later we left our house. I
couldn’t see anything at all. I only realized everyone had disappeared right before I tied up the rope to
the tree. At the end of his words, he kept his head down and wiped his tear. People like U Tin Yein have
something in common: they are now earning a living by opening small food stalls in this “Noodle Row”
and they all had lost their loved ones.
“I couldn’t even walk after the cyclone was over because I was clinging onto a tree trunk the
whole night in the cyclone,” said Ko Aung Thurein, a 20 year‐old boy from Kyar Chuang Village. “Every
survivor living here had lost their family members,” also said a villager living in a shop in Noodle Row.
Noodle Row gets more and more crowded at the sunset; however, the fact that this place is not
as noisy as food stalls in other big cities is slightly strange. Residents of Laputta Township mentioned
that these villagers are putting new strength to start their second lives by adding up different kinds of
hardship in Noodle Row to their unforgettable life experiences.
A Ray of Light from the Dark Cyclone
“Right now, the whole Laputta Township has enough food supply and shelter. Since this is Monsoon
season, people don’t need to worry about water. The most important thing left for the moment is
cleaning pounds for water storage and growing rice for this season,” said Jeff Harvey, a
telecommunication officer from Doctors without Boundary Association.
The amount of relief works were getting lesser one month after the cyclone and it seems to be a
sign for survivors that they have to start over their lives on their own. Farmers prepared to start
cultivating rice before June 18. According to the statistical data, loss of rice in Irrawaddy and Rangoon
was 0.7 million metric tons, including harvested stored‐rice and rice that was going to be harvested
before the cyclone hit.
Endless questions of how to face an uncertain future have been hanging around in every
survivor’s thought after one month of the cyclone. The intelligence and living standard of those
answering the questions will have enormous impact on their second lives. “Forget everything
happened. If I say so, it would mean that I have no sympathy. But, it’s true that we have to try to forget
this nightmare and must start our second lives,” said a 50 year old farmer from Kyun Kone Pite Tan Su
village. Only after they decide to start their second lives, their futures will be full of hopes. Lingering on
the tragedy would not bring any hopes or promises for their futures.
U Tun, a fisherman, said he found himself alive because he had been clinging to a plastic bucket
floating in the water. Now, he has to earn his living just as a daily paid worker. He said that he is
determined to go back to his place where he lost his wife and daughters.
U Tin Yein, a fisherman mentioned in the beginning, is now preparing to build a hut with all the
money he has. Then, he will start preparing for tilling on the farm that he got from the authorities.
The red worn out cloth is a signal of second lives of the survivors in Tae Tan Su Village. In other
words, that red flag represents the fact that they are still being alive for their second lives out of the
tragic nightmare. The villagers said, “Even though we have nothing left, the flag representing our lives
won’t be falling down.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)