“Many people said this years festival of lights was the best ever! It didn’t start that well – at first people were concerned that they did not have the candles or the means to celebrate. However, our counselors encouraged women to form groups and to pool resources. The result exceeded everyone’s expectations and provided a symbol of hope for the future”. Ruth Ulrich, MSF Mental Health Officer, Irrawaddy Delta.
Six months have passed since cyclone Nargis devastated Myanmar’s Irrawaddy Delta, leaving an estimated 130,000 people dead or missing and altering the region immeasurably.
The scars it left behind remain evident today, not least in the minds of the survivors and their ongoing vulnerability. Nutrition, availability of drinkable water and livelihoods remain key concerns, especially in some harder to reach areas. The people of the Delta, however, have demonstrated great resilience and signs of improvement are visible. An unprecedented number of international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), working alongside the state authorities, have done much to stabilize the situation and continue to provide essential support for people’s ongoing recovery. As such, MSF is now able to hand over many of its programmes to other organisations, while continuing to work in some lesser assisted areas of concern.
In distinct contrast, elsewhere in the country we continue to battle against chronic and urgent health needs, made worse by a lack of investment by both government and international community alike. This selective blindness to countrywide needs, not least in the areas of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria to mention a few, continues to cost the lives of thousands of people year upon year, without ever grabbing the headlines.