Horror of cyclone still haunts

Local Church partners are delivering much needed medical and spiritual assistance to those affected by Cyclone Nargis. [Caritas]

Archbishop Charles Bo, of Yangon, Burma reflects on his visit to the region devastated by Cyclone Nargis

June marks the start of the school year in Burma/Myanmar. But for so many children there will be no school to go to.

For the children in the delta region their lives have been turned upside down. Many of them lost their parents and their homes.

Last week I visited a village called Aima and some surrounding island villages. Aima village is in Labutta township in the southern delta region and is very difficult to reach.

It took almost ten hours to get there by boat. There, I met families who are still struggling to survive and feed their children.

Many children cry at night

In this area all the schools have been destroyed. For the children of Aima, the horror of the cyclone still haunts them.

Many children cry at night and when it rains. The children fear the worst and re-live the trauma of the night of the 2nd of May.

In this village there are so many inner wounds that must be healed over time. To date very little aid has been able to get to these communities.

For the first two weeks the only aid received by these people was from the Catholic Church. They told me that without this, they would not have survived.

Church distributes aid

My trip to Aima also demonstrated how important it is for the Catholic Church to continue our work and ensure that we support communities as best we can.

To date we have been able to supply food, clean water, tarpaulins for shelter, cooking utensils and medical supplies to approximately 20,000 people in Labutta township.

We now must continue to support them, firstly to survive but also in rebuilding their lives. The people I met remain modest in their requests, and ask only for food and shelter.

The start of the school year is also an important reminder that we must prioritise the needs of children who have been affected by Cyclone Nargis.

Hope and anguish

The Church will play a role in ensuring that children are reunited with family members and are given toys and space to play in.
We must ensure that children can also return to school as soon as possible.

Without routines such as school and normal daily activities, children will find it much harder to heal and miss out of vital education.

Having met the people affected by Cyclone Nargis and seen the conditions they are now living, my recent trip left me with both hope and anguish.

There is still a great deal of suffering and people need considerably more aid and help to survive and rebuild their lives. However, I am also optimistic that the Church can play an important role in meeting these needs.

It is with this in mind that we must go forward, work together and serve those in need more effectively and to the best of our ability.

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