Souheil Reaiche, head of one of MSF’s teams in Yangon, explains the current situation – Wednesday May 7, 2008
"We’ve been working hard these last few days. On Monday we distributed emergency items, including plastic sheeting for shelter, to several thousand people. Yesterday and today we’ve managed to distribute a week’s worth of food to 2,000 people in the Twantey area, two hours away from Yangon. We’ve distributed diesel to schools and monasteries that have wells to access water but no more fuel for the pumps. We also distributed food to 350 people who have sought refuge in a monastery. The needs are so massive that we’re trying to combine our assessments and our actions to save time. When our teams went to assess the situation in Twantey, they took relief kits with them and one ton of food. This is life-saving action.
Devastation caused in Myanmar by cyclone Nargis, May 2008 Photo: AP Images
"Tomorrow we’re sending a team composed of a doctor, two logistics experts and a translator seven hours’ drive to the south, to the area of Bagaley. This coastal area was very hard hit. Depending on their assessment of the situation, trucks loaded with basic emergency relief items and food will be ready to follow them.
"People are very traumatized. One man, a sailor, told us his village had been completely destroyed. He said he had no news of the 4,000 inhabitants of a neighbouring village, which is to this day still under water. People tell stories of spending the night of the cyclone hanging on to trees all night long, while watching their villages being destroyed.
"People are saying that Myanmar has never seen such a catastrophe; they have lost everything and have very little hope of receiving assistance. In the Twantey and Dalla areas, 80 percent of the villages are destroyed. Some villages are still under water and are not reachable. Anything built of bamboo has been blown away, including the majority of houses in these villages. A third of the town of Twantey has also been destroyed.
"So far, it is proving impossible to reach the zones that are still flooded. They can only be reached by boat, and all local boats have been destroyed. We’re looking to buy boats in Yangon and to transport them there.
"In Yangon itself, our teams assessed the situation in different areas, including the Okalapa area where 4,000 people live. They have no access to clean water at all, because all the wells are flooded or soiled, or there is no fuel to pump the wells. So they have to drink river water. To address this we’re setting up a clean water distribution programme.
"The critical things are food, shelter and access to clean water. The people affected by this cyclone were already vulnerable. They now live in life-threatening conditions, without food, or clean water, often sleeping outside. Malaria and dengue fever are prevalent in this area and we’re planning a mosquito net distribution in the coming days.
"When it comes to delivering aid, we haven’t encountered any problems or restrictions in doing our assessments or initial distributions. We are continuing to bring emergency relief assistance to the people affected and will extend our assessments. However it is clear today that with the limited means we have, both in terms of human resources and material, we are not currently able to adequately respond to the needs of the population. Following the government’s appeal for international assistance, it is essential that emergency visas are issued and that relief shipments are allowed to arrive. Additional MSF teams have been on standby for 48 hours, waiting for visas, to come to help us in the Delta."
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