More than four weeks after Cyclone Nargis swept through Myanmar, leaving more than 134,000 dead or missing, and at least 2.4 million homeless, ADRA continues to meet the needs of survivors in the devastated Irrawaddy Delta region in southern Myanmar, providing food aid, shelter materials, hygiene kits, medicines, and improved access to water and sanitation.
June 2 – 4: ADRA assists 16,683 people by distributing 4,114 bags of rice, 18,295 liters of cooking oil (4,833 gallons), 350 household-size pieces of plastic sheeting, 320 cooking sets, 25 hygiene kits, 24 baby kits, one bag of lentils, and one bag of salt. Between May 28 and June 4, ADRA provides aid to 52,153 people.
June 2: ADRA prepares to distribute more than three tons of medicines and medical supplies, donated by World Emergency Relief (WER), to affected children. This shipment includes children’s antibiotics, vitamin supplements, and sterile medical dressings. These medicines will be distributed to local health facilities that are treating children within the affected region.
May 30 – 31: Four C-130 planes carrying emergency supplies arrive in Yangon, increasing to $360,000 the relief aid provided by the United States Agency for International Development Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) to ADRA.
May 28: ADRA begins implementing a sanitation project through a partnership with the Canadian International Development Agency/Humanitarian Assistance, Peace and Security (CIDA/HAPS), which awarded ADRA a CAN$500,000 grant to construct 1,150 latrines, 267 washing areas, 267 solid waste disposal areas, and distribute 5,348 hygiene kits equipped with supplies, such as personal soap bars, laundry soap, towel, bucket, and sanitary pads. These funds help train and mobilize volunteers to provide hygiene education in Labutta. ADRA receives aid donated by Johanitter International Assistance, a Germany-based non-governmental organization (NGO), including an estimated $45,000 in emergency kits.
May 27: Two C-130 cargo planes carrying relief supplies donated by USAID/OFDA arrive in Yangon. ADRA distributes 15 metric tons of rice to survivors, and 647 boxes of Meals Ready to Eat (MRE) in Ponlong Village, Pyinsalu Sub Township, where approximately 3,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) have been staying.
ADRA also distributes 69 buckets, 144 packages of soap, and 60 tarpaulins donated by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
ADRA builds latrines at Gauk Kwin Camp in Labutta and completes an assessment of wells in the Labutta Township. ADRA prepares to provide bedding, hygiene and household kits to 4,400 families, in addition to kitchen utensils and food packages to 10,000 survivors in the southern Pyinsalu area. Each package contains rice, beans, and iodized salt.
ADRA reports that since the beginning of its Cyclone Nargis response it has provided 6,310 bags of rice, 1,059 cooking utensils sets, 9,101 spoons, 7,029 bowls, 18 large scale cooking sets, 18 wooden spoons, 2,851 hygiene kits, 20 baby kits, 2,250 water containers, 182 rolls of tarpaulin, 520 longyi for women, 200 longyi for men, 560 mosquito nets, 20 emergency kits (including 40 medicine boxes), constructed 50 pit latrines, installed three water purification units, and cleaned several wells.
May 25 – 27: ADRA expands its response in the Myaungmya Township through a partnership with the World Food Programme (WFP), becoming the primary food aid provider in the area, where it most recently distributed an eight-day supply of rice totaling 220 bags, or 11 metric tons, to 3,000 people living in Myaungmya’s largest camp, and provides 1,025 kitchen sets to improve cooking and sanitation within camps.
May 25: Arbeiter Samariter Bund (ASB), a German NGO, commits $300,000 in cash and goods to help ADRA’s response in Myanmar.
May 22: ADRA receives a $400,000 grant from USAID/OFDA to fund water filtration units, which will increase access to clean drinking water to 120,000 people in Labutta and Myaungmya, where the limited fresh water has been contaminated by storm debris, human and animal remains, and waste. The USAID/OFDA funds help provide emergency shelter tools and materials (rope, hand saws, roofing nails, shovels, hoes, machetes, tin snips, nails, tie wire, claw hammers, and woven sacks) to 8,375 people, or 1,675 households, throughout the Labutta Township.
May 20: Through coordination with the United Nations and the government of Myanmar, ADRA is requested to provide emergency aid to at least 30,000 people in the Pyinsalu Sub-Township, becoming the only organization working in this isolated part of the Irrawaddy Delta.
ADRA deploys mobile medical teams to assist the injured and those suffering from severe dehydration in the Pyinsalu area. Each team can deliver up to six metric tons of food during a trip, enough to feed at least 2,000 people for a week.
In addition, ADRA distributes 50 bags of rice (50 kg / 110 lbs each) to the village of Hwa Sar in the Pyinsalu Sub Township. The rice, provided by the WFP, benefits 500 people. ADRA also trains field staff to operate well cleaning and desalination units donated by the Swiss Government.
ADRA begins a needs assessment in the field in preparation for well cleaning and water desalination activities. In Labutta, ADRA constructs 25 latrines.
May 16: Working with Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC), ADRA receives a shipment of shelter and kitchen materials. Items include 20 large multi-purpose tents, 10 family tents, 2,742 plastic sheets of various sizes, and 1,500 family kitchen sets for five persons each.
May 15: In the town of Myaungmya, ADRA partners with World Vision and Metta, a local non-governmental organization, to distribute 10,000 blankets, clothing (longyi, slippers, and underwear), and medicine among the displaced in 28 IDP camps. ADRA also provides hot food for 187 displaced persons who are staying at an IDP camp in the Myaungmya Union Adventist Seminary, and prepares to distribute 250 medical kits in the immediate region.
May 14: ADRA finalizes a cooperative agreement with the WPF to assist survivors through food distribution in and around Labutta, a town that has become a focal point for thousands of IDPs seeking refuge in dozens of make-shift camps.
May 13: The ADRA network commits $265,500 toward an immediate emergency response project to provide food rations (rice, pulses, and salt), temporary shelter materials (tarpaulins, bamboo, and nylon rope), 5-gallon water containers, kitchen sets (bowls, spoons, and cups), tool kits, and hygiene kits to approximately 20,000 IDPs. Donors to this project include ADRA International, ADRA supporting offices in Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Czech Republic, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, United Kingdom, Portugal, Netherlands, Japan, and HELP International.
A shipment of 250 medical kits, donated by Johanniter International Assistance, is transported to the disaster area together with a shipment of plates, spoons, and cooking equipment for IDP camps.
The distribution of 45 metric tons of rice begins in 14 Labutta IDP camps where approximately 20,000 people have taken refuge.
May 12: ADRA receives water filtration units capable of providing clean water for 40,000 people a day, three small water systems that can provide water for up to 2,000 people each, and one million water purification tables. These items, donated by Global Medic and Muslim Relief, are delivered to Labutta where residents can only fetch water from a 15-acre pond. Also, a shipment of 45 metric tons of rice is received in Labutta.
Through a partnership with World Emergency Relief (WER), ADRA ships 20 medicine packs containing medical supplies valued at approximately $129,000 to be used by a medical team already providing first aid assistance to residents of an isolated part of the delta. Each pack provides about 1,500 treatments from mixed medicines, antiseptics, and antibiotics.
May 11: Working in conjunction with the WFP, ADRA distributes 25 metric tons of rice and power biscuits to an estimated 50,000 IDPs in Labutta. In the Piensalu islands south of Labutta, a separate ADRA food distribution program provides approximately 2,270 kg (5,000 lbs.) of rice and a supply of clean drinking water to affected villages.
May 10 – 14: ADRA provides food aid to 1,830 people in Labutta, Painnal Kone, Kyar Chaung, Aung Hlaing, Ah Ya Taw, Yae Twin Sait, Kan Baet, Ah Mat Kalay, Ah Mat Kyi, and Ai Ma. Assistance includes 32 boxes of power biscuits, 61 bags of rice, and 80 bottles of water. Using boats, ADRA evacuates at least 214 people to safe areas.
In 22 reception points and camps, ADRA distributes 82,000 bowls, 7,972 spoons, 2,170 cups, 50 wooden cooking, 40 cooking pans, 10 rice cookers, and eight cooking stoves.
May 10: The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) commits CHF$100,000, which help supplement the $265,500 ADRA network commitment on May 13.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that there are 206,000 IDPs in the delta region.
May 8: ADRA sends 150 lbs. of medical supplies, donated by Heart to Heart International, which include broad-spectrum antibiotics, analgesics, vitamins, topical creams, oral rehydration salts, anti-amebic drugs, bandages, and disposable vinyl gloves to aid survivors in the delta region.
May 4: In Yangon, ADRA emergency personnel begin to assess the damage caused by the storm and plan an immediate response. ADRA also coordinates its response with the United Nations.
Teddy Dinh, ADRA Myanmar’s associate country director, and a group of assisting field staff already in the devastated Irrawaddy Delta purchase rice and transport it from the town of Labutta to survivors in Amat, Theik, and Ayar Daw. They share their own clothing, assist with basic clean up, and help bury the dead.
May 2 and 3: A total of 885 people survive a deadly storm surge by seeking refuge on at least 22 ADRA bridges built months before to link isolated communities in the Pyinsalu Sub-Township on the extreme southern edge of Labutta Township. One structure alone, the Lay Yin Kwin Bridge, which measures 140 feet in length, holds 145 people for several hours during the storm.