News & Updates

The team and I have been making trips by boat to the outlying areas off the mainland of the Irrawaddy Delta reaching survivors and families that have not been reached by others. The few trips we have made by hired boat have been extremely dangerous as these boats are the few still afloat but they are unsafe. We are in urgent need of 12 boats (about US$5,000 each) to enable myself, the ATM team, and all our medical team to reach those completely isolated, spanning out in several different places.

Upon setting foot in Burma and briefing with our local team there, the stark reality of the disaster hit me square in the face and sinks deeper and deeper. The situation in Burma is growing with every passing day, into a near insurmountable crisis due to the delay of International aid to the area that is in most need in the Irrawaddy Delta.

As I mentioned in a previous report about the crisis that would follow in the wake of the cyclone Nargis has already started taking effect now. Disease is spreading. Monsoon rains are coming and another cyclone is due to hit the same area in the next 24 hours. Hundreds of thousands of people have no shelter from the rains. With the rains falling, the waves of the sea are rising up to 9 metres above sea level with the force of strong winds. People in the Irrawaddy Delta including those in Rangoon will be anticipating one cyclone after another as monsoon season looms closer.

[In response to a call from our partner in Burma, we urgently raised funds to send to the victims of Cyclone Nargis]

At this point, it is hard to give an accurate estimate. But my experienced guess is that:

The latest situation is Burma is getting worse. Over 100,000 people have died, 50% of them were children. 75% of the population affected are Karen. Laputta township no longer exists, it was totally wiped out. Even after a week in these horrific conditions of no food or water and disease is prevalent. Pyapon town which had a population of 100,000 was totally wiped out also. Bogale township also completely gone. The roads were not good before the disaster, now roads are complete cut off.