The disaster in Myanmar
28.11.2008
I was spending time at the Hyderabad railway station waiting for the Jinnah Express due in at midnight, Pakistani time, to travel north to Lahore on a 16 hour journey.
The weather was hot and I was on my way to the cool of the mountains to go on retreat, leaving behind the dusty and sizzling Sindh soil for a few weeks. I had hailed down a horse and cart earlier that evening to take me to the local bus stand for the two hour journey to Hyderabad from Badin where I live.
Feeling contented after a sumptuous meal at a nearby restaurant for NZ $0.50 I waiting, happy to indulge in some ‘waiting theology’. The rail system is somewhat old and can run many hours behind schedule but trains usually reach their destination.
I find each journey a wonderful adventure full of surprises and entertainment.
‘Coolie’ Mohammed Muladard approached me. He was dressed>Archbishop Charles Bo
Catholic Archbishop Charles Bo of Yangon is using diocesan funds to buy and distribute food and supplies to the stricken. In Buddhist-majority Myanmar, the three million Christians are giving aid.
June 2, 2008 marked the start of the school year in Myanmar and also one month after Cyclone Nargis. However, 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.
Recently I visited Aima village and the surrounding island villages of Pha-ya-lay-gone, Pein-ne-gone, Ta-yoke-gone and Lein-maw-gone. Aima village is in Labutta township in the southern delta region and is difficult to reach.
It took almost 10 hours to get there by boat. There, I met families who were struggling to survive and feed their children. 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 May 2 this year. In this village there are so many inner wounds that must be healed over time.
To date little aid has been able to get to these communities. The only aid received by these people was from the Catholic Church.
They told me that without this, they would not have survived. The government only supplies two cans of rice per person per day. In some cases people have been asked by the government to leave temporary camps and return to their villages. In many of the villages there was no shelter, food or clean water and the government only supplied them with a few kitchen utensils.
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.
Now we 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. 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 on vital education.
On my recent trip, amidst so much death and destruction, the resilience of children was brought home to me by many stories that I heard.
In one case a lady called Veronica told me of how she and her three month old child were stuck in their house when a tree fell over and blocked the doorway. The floodwater rose inside the house so she piled furniture up and climbed above the water. As the water level rose she had her head and her baby above water and one foot left until the water reached the roof of the house. She remained like that until the following morning and the water gradually subsided. Veronica told me this story and then added that during this time her baby had not cried once.
I also heard the story of a five-year-old boy in the village of Lein-maw-gone. He had been separated from his family and when the floodwater rose he could no longer stand on the ground so he grabbed onto his dog. He held onto his dog as it began to swim and kept swimming for hours until he could eventually bring the boy to the safety of dry land. Sadly, following this amazing feat, the dog died of exhaustion.
Having met the people affected by Cyclone Nargis and seen the conditions they are now living in one month later, 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’s 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.
- Letter from Archbishop Charles Bo of Yangon, Burma.
in an old red jacket coolie uniform with red rug material wrapped around his head. Passengers engage coolie/porters to carry their luggage to and from the trains at a haggled over fare. Sometimes the luggage is heavy and I shudder when I see the loads they balance on their heads.
I recognised an interesting life story so I spoke with him. He said, "I have been working in this occupation for 18 years. I am happy and I like this life as it is Allah’s will. I am a licensed coolie." He proudly showed me his brass Number ‘108’ on his jacket shoulder. "I am under the control of the contractor. I give him PKR300 (NZ$5.20) a month, plus he takes 30% out of my daily takings."
‘Each night I give all my daily takings into the hotel outside the railway station where I eat. If I don’t give it in, I would lose my number." When I suggested that he keep some of the takings in his pocket so the contractor would not be able to take the 30% of the full day’s rupees, he responded, "No, I give it all in, as I am faithful."
"We are 150 coolies here. We stand side by side when the trains arrive. We don’t fight because the luggage is for the other coolie - or for me. I take 10 cups of tea daily. Each costs PKR6 (NZ $0.10). Twice daily I eat at PKR22 (NZ $0.38), then I pay PKR10 (NZ $0.17) for cigarettes. This leaves me with a profit for the day from PKR50-90 (NZ $0.90-$1.56). I am free to work at the times I like. I sleep at the station and eat at the nearby hotel. Life is good thanks to Allah who gives me all.
"Does the thief rob you?" I asked. He answers with a grin, "No, what can he take? All I possess is my clothes. How could a thief take the clothes from my back? I come from a village and I go there to visit after three weeks work. I have a wife, two sons and a daughter. My children are married. My sons are also coolies. They are sleeping on the overhead bridge where there is a cool breeze overhead."
The temperature had been hovering around 40 degrees and at midnight it was still about 30 degrees. The train arrived and we bid one another goodbye. I felt enlivened by this man. His honesty and simplicity made a deep impression on me.
Fr Daniel O’Connor SSC first went to Pakistan in 1983.
