MSF began its emergency intervention just hours after the cyclone hit Yangon and was providing assistance in the city and in the Delta within 48 hours. Since then, around 750 (rotating) staff has assisted more than 550,000 people in responding to their emergency needs; providing food, shelter, water, healthcare, psychosocial support and essential non-food items, such as blankets and plastic sheeting. “From the outset we worked together with communities to get the emergency aid where it was needed. Our first team encountered four villagers on motorbikes who immediately wanted to help - refusing pointblank any payment. Together they were quickly able to deliver food to numerous places”, told MSF head of mission Frank Smithuis.
Six months later and life for many people in the Delta seems to be slowly improving. Villagers can be seen rebuilding their homes and at work in the paddy fields. The health of the surviving population is similar to that of people throughout rural Myanmar and to date our medical teams have not seen the feared outbreaks in disease or escalation in malnutrition.
“Seeing people active is a good sign”, explains MSF mental health officer Ruth, “initially people were unable to work, they were too traumatized. But the trauma symptoms such as sleeplessness and flashbacks are now reducing”. MSF’s psychosocial programme has sought to support more than 21,300 people to better cope with the experience through individual and group counseling, community work and mental health education. “People are still concerned”, adds Ruth, “but about practical things like water, livelihoods and the next harvest”. MSF repaired many wells and water ponds, but the rainy season is now coming to an end and people are concerned about having enough drinkable water to see them through the dry season. Likewise, people fear that the coming harvest will not be enough, as the planting was too little too late and many of the water buffalo that used to work the fields were killed in the cyclone.
“People’s emergency needs in the Delta have been met”, explains MSF project coordinator Emily Bell, “What they now require is ongoing support for their long-term recovery, as they have been rendered highly vulnerable. Thankfully, there are now many NGOs present, enabling MSF to hand over the majority of our programmes. However, adequate support remains limited in some harder to reach areas, particularly in the southern parts of Bogaley Township. In these places we will continue to provide assistance in the short-term, whilst encouraging increased support from other organisations”. The struggle to get an appropriate level of assistance for Myanmar’s most vulnerable people is one that affects the whole country. “MSF continues to tackle critical health issues throughout Myanmar. Diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria cause untold suffering for countless people, and their remains a gross lack of assistance by all care providers”, says Emily.