Myanmar, Irrawaddy Delta

It is almost 18 months since cyclone Nargis struck the Irrawaddy Delta but the situation is not completely stable yet. Some people still need assistance, in particular in the most remote villages.

Therefore, the Good Shepherd Sisters continue to help the Nargis cyclone victims who are still struggling for their daily survival. Most of the relief supporters from outside the country remarked that the people need more physical assistance than psychological assistance because of the situation of extreme poverty they are in. The majority of Myanmar common people take poverty as an inevitable part of their life and they see it from the point of view of their faith in karma (Buddhism) – something that is inherited from their own doing from their own previous existence. They tend to spiritualize everything they are experiencing in life. By working among them, the sisters realize that they need physical assistance as well as education in order to have a more holistic point of view on the realities of life including natural disasters. With this in mind, the sisters provide them not only with material needs but also seminars on ecology, global warming, prevention and preparing for natural disasters. 

Some of the villages are still requesting food supplies from the sisters so they try to reach the villages most in need, to bring relief, food, and psychological support. Thanks to the generous support of Misean Cara (Ireland), Homes for Hope (Switzerland), Burma Action (Ireland) our local partners have been able to help the population in many ways in collaboration with Caritas Myanmar.

Since May 2009 up to now the sisters have:

• distributed 1500 sacks of rice to 800 families in three villages where people cannot afford a regular meal;
• helped financially 20 families for their livelihood: plantation of vegetable and bettle leaves;
• provided boats to 10 families for their transportation and fishing;
• made it possible to dig wells for 10 families;
• distributed 10 hand tractors with diesel;
• conducted Disaster Risk Reduction Seminars;
• rebuilt 10 houses.