Rotary Club of Lake Placid

First Hand Account of the Myanmar cyclone disaster

The following email is an account of the aftermath of the Myanmar cyclone

disaster by Rotarian J T Waring, an assistant governor from Newport,

California, who is, coincidentally, on-the-ground in Myanmar on a Rotarian

humanitarian mission to oversee the completion of water delivery and

collection systems for 3 orphanages in Myanmar’

We are privileged to have this first-person account . It shows the power of Rotary.

Bill Hodges, PDG CRCID Rep, D7040

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When I flew in to Yangon . May 12 after concluding Rotary project launch in Pattaya, Yangon scene was of pervasive, ground-level devastation. Buddhist monks, thousands of citizen volunteers and military had cleared main roads of trees, utility poles, felled traffic signals and debris, but everywhere else, the destruction was nearly untouched. Tens, if not hundreds, of thousand trees, were literally ripped apart in this once-attractively green cityscape by winds measured at times at over 200 KPH. Houses large and small had their roofs, many of these of corrugated metal, ripped away. Even the solid stone Catholic Archdiocese Cathedral held, but suffered damage to both its steeples. Family residences numbering 40,000 were destroyed in Yangon alone. The sense throughout the city is as if a giant scythe had just swept across it, leveling everything that stood in its path. Yet, conversely and unlike a war zone, no tall buildings or major structures were reduced to rubble. Well-built, they held, but often with roof damage and destructive leakage.

A majority of restaurants are still closed along with several hotels, many suffering severe damage. Public transit is very uneven still. Electricity and telephone are slowly returning, but with no reliability. The city is still eerily dark at night, but improving. Of course, in this military state, looting or street crime are virtually non-existent. On this, my 19^th travel to Burma, my wonderful project field team continues in place, including friend guide and project administrator, CEO of local travel agency (also a very close friend), honorary adopted son (and team photographer) and full-time car and driver. So we'll ably shepherd anyone coming in from Rotary to join us here. I am here to June 02, then back to Pattaya, Thailand on video-documentary post-production through June 07, then back to Los Angeles for Rotary International annual meeting June 12-19.

On a per-country basis, damage and life-losses in Myanmar may well exceed that of the multi-country tsunami tragedy of 12/26/04. Total fatalities then were 230,000; here, the UN also calculates 100,000 plus for just this one country. May go higher. A seeming contradiction: property damage overwhelming to urban Yangon, but with probably fewer than 100 deaths. However, in sparsely-populated Ayeyarwaddy Delta southwest of Yangon (the nation's "rice bowl"), little capital structure, but simple bamboo shanties in the tens of thousands were swept away. But, along with them uncounted lives of men, women and children of already humblest circumstances, along with their pets and farm animals. Stories reach us of bodies decomposing rapidly in hot salt water (it is summer here), with no one to remove, much less bury, them. Equally tragic are the estimated tens of thousands of persons young and old, isolated on islands newly created by the cyclone aftermath's steeply rising waters. They are dying of thirst, starvation and perhaps too soon, cataclysmic disease, with no one to help them. To very many of them, the only access would be powered flat boat or helicopter.

I need not repeat the difficulties you've already learnt from the world media in getting such help, including flood, shelter and medicines, to where they are needed, in time to avert a "second-wave" humanitarian disaster. Here, it all feels too heartbreakingly familiar to yours truly, who video-documented the "Aftermath of a Tsunami" for Rotary 38 months ago. But the difference is that massive multinational aid poured in to the sufferers without delay nor impediment. But now, let's address what caring people here on the ground are doing to help:

1. Rotarians from Pattaya and D-3340 in Thailand immediately raised 105,000 Thai Baht and sent it in with me for immediate direct aid. At the direction of the medical doctors we serve with here, we yesterday purchased three 6.5kw diesel generators with pump and compressor each, to be installed at each of three community orphanage sites where there are unusually large clear-water reserves at extraordinary depths (500-600 feet down) and centrally-located in larger surrounding communities with known shortages of potable water. We installed the first of these today (Thursday) and plan to deploy the other two tomorrow, and have them fully operational. The balance of these funds will provide direct food aid to one or more orphanages whose needs we already know, probably in purchases of 50 kg bags of rice.

2. These same Rotarians from five Pattaya clubs are already coalescing with the other service clubs, the 400-member powerhouse women's club, the Mayor's office, and churches and individuals to raise another minimum one million Baht for direct aid to the hungry, which will be delivered in-country by Thais, who have much easier access than Westerners. And, with the land border now open at Mae Sot, trucks are soon to be loaded with clothing and other relief supplies from Thailand. In connection with this wonderful effort, I spoke to three Rotary groups and participated in other plan sessions in Pattaya last week and may address a larger meeting there the week of June 01.

3. Our three-year-old aid project in Myanmar which I initiated as the first Rotary direct service there since 1962 continues. Rotary clubs and districts in California, Indiana, Kentucky and Thailand have since last December completed turnkey water delivery systems at three orphanage sites and are completing two more now and in June. Designed to last 60 years by a local civil engineer-contractor we commissioned last year, Rotary has promised to build 65 of these in the next few years.

4. From Rotary's beginning here, in 2005, we have cooperated with an awesome Myanmar business corporation devoted to charitable purposes. I am now officially a volunteer consultant to this corporation. Called the Myanmar Compassion Project, it was founded by a distinguished Burmese medical doctor now retired from senior roles in the National Public Health service and co-led with an American surgeon. Their charter, heretofore, has been to provide a gratis service of all preventive, curative, surgical and dental care for the 6000 plus children in more than 200 independent orphanages in this troubled nation. As of this week however, I am proud to be witness to their decision to permanently expand their charter to a "first-responder domestic emergency life-sustaining relief organization," while continuing to fully serve their original charter. Due to "MCP's" immense earned credibility in the global relief NGO community, they are being besieged with offers from "name-brand" relief organizations and funds sources, to receive both cash, service and joint venture participations.

5. This very evening, I met three guys in blue-and-gold Rotary shirts in the lobby of another major Yangon hotel. These two Birmingham Brits and a Glasgow Scots will tomorrow escort a shipment of 1400 Rotary "shelter boxes" to landing at Yangon Airport, whence they are to be deployed to dire need in the delta. And, they tell me more shipments of shelter boxes are coming. Furthermore, they told me that the government-owned TV network has already given visible play to the Rotary logo.

The price in human tragedy was too awesomely high, but it is with a humbling feeling of joy and thanksgiving to find those of us who were already trying to help these hurting people, now being joined by the much bigger shoulders of the global helping community, with its powerful floodlights now illuminating the needs here for all to see.

In closing, there is much more going on for good here than this "blind man beside the elephant" can possibly yet know about. But, I hope I am encouraging your own good efforts by describing the little I do know.

Please forward the foregoing to anyone you choose, and feel free to email me with your comments, suggestions, and particularly, any concrete offers of assistance for this wonderful people. But please forgive that the press of time and urgent tasks here will severely limit additional responses before my USA return

J T Waring..Dist 5320