MYANMAR: Disabled people await post-cyclone aid

IRIN: Humanitarian News and Analysis

YANGON, 12 October 2008 (IRIN) - More than five months after Cyclone Nargis struck southern Myanmar, people with physical disabilities (PwDs) continue to await assistance. Little of the international relief targeting the 2.4 million people affected has filtered down to them. Scores lost their homes, property and livelihoods to the storm, which left nearly 140,000 dead or missing. Others lost their mobility devices - including, crutches, wheelchairs and prosthetic limbs - to flood waters. Many were also badly traumatised and have yet to receive the psycho-social support they need. “Many people were affected by the cyclone and are now receiving assistance. Unfortunately very little has come to us,” said Nay Lin Soe, who was stricken with polio as a youngster and can only walk with the aid of crutches. Today he is one of 125 disabled people working together to help other PwDs in his community rebuild their lives and homes. They have a simple office within the Eden Centre for Disabled Children in Yangon, the former Burmese capital. 30,000 PwDs in Ayeyarwady Delta Prior to Nargis, there were an estimated 30,000 PwDs living in Myanmar’s badly affected Ayeyarwady Delta, including 5,000 children. In the wake of the disaster, health experts speculate that another 3,000-5,000 PwDs may have been added to their ranks.

“It is obvious that people with disabilities have been completely overlooked so far in all general and sectoral assessments,” Thomas Calvot, disability and emergency adviser for Handicap International France, who spent three weeks in Myanmar, told IRIN. The Post Nargis Joint Assessment (PONJA), considered by many as the blueprint for the humanitarian response to the area, makes only brief mention of PwDs, saying they should be included. An assessment of the number of PwDs and the challenges ahead in terms of helping them has yet to be carried out. Challenges The cyclone-affected area was inaccessible at the best of times, with no concrete paths, houses built on

Child-friendly spaces allow cyclone-affected children in Myanmar to enjoy life again

YANGON, Myanmar, 5 September 2008 – About a 30-minute boat ride from Bogalay lies Myanmar's Kyet Taung Chaung village. To access the village, you have to walk through deep mud, climb over wobbly wooden bridges and balance on tree trunks.From afar, you can hear children singing, accompanied by a guitar. "Wash your hands to keep clean," they sing with enthusiasm. "Wash thoroughly each of your fingers." The voices come from a wooden hut on stilts, which is currently being used as a UNICEF-supported child-friendly space to provide a safe environment for cyclone-affected children. "Every day, about 100 children come here," says Tracia Hmuu, who works for a UNICEF partner, the Yangon Kayin Baptist Women's Association, coordinating activities at the space. She is supported by two volunteers from the village. Overcoming emotional distress UNICEF established 101 child-friendly spaces in the Irrawaddy Delta and Yangon Division after the cyclone hit Myanmar last...

Nargis Orphan Numbers Don’t Add Up

Despite an estimated 138,000 people dead or missing after Cyclone Nargis lashed the southern Burmese coast some four months ago, only 112 orphans are officially registered in state-run temporary orphanages. However, the UN has estimated the number of children orphaned in the May 2-3 storm at about 2,000 and observers have told The Irrawaddy they fear that many orphans have been recruited into the Tatmadaw, Burma’s armed forces. An official from Myaung Mya temporary camp confirmed that 112 orphans are officially registered at the shelters, although initial estimates in the wake of the cyclone put the number at more than 500. “There are 100 orphans registered at Myaung Mya camp and 12 orphans at Maubin camp, all between the ages of four and nineteen,” she said, referring to the only shelters that have been founded for orphans of Cyclone Nargis. However, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said in June that at least 2,000 children in the region had been orphaned, while...

Cyclone Nargis Emergency Response 100 Days On - Programme Update

General update on response to Cyclone Nargis Save the Children is the biggest international aid agency responding to cyclone Nargis in Myanmar, 100 hundred days after the cyclone we have reached over half a million people, including at least 225,000 children, with life saving assistance. Aid is getting through. Most people have received some assistance but much more needs to be done. We are working in 14 of the 15 most affected townships in Yangon and the Ayererwady Delta. Immediately after the cyclone our response focused on life saving needs including shelter building supplies, food and water. In the initial phase of the response, we distributed large quantities of relief items, including plastic sheeting for over 80,000 households, over 2 million kg of rice, almost 96,000 sachets of oral rehydration salts, 7,000 blankets, and almost 14,000 blocks of soap. As we now look towards the long term we will continue to help children get back to school, helping parents to start earning...

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