Myanmar: Nyo Mynt's story of loss and survival
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I'm Nyo Mynt. I'm the eldest of six brothers and sisters. I'm 16. The youngest is two years old. We live in a village near Laputta. The 2nd of May went by normally. I heard there would be a storm. The signs were there - dark clouds and some rain. My parents, and us grown-up children worked in the farm the whole day. But not much happened until evening. We were preparing our meals when the wind blew down our little house. The water quickly flooded the surroundings. So we decided to move to a church located on high ground not far from our house. (There are many ethnic minority Kayin (Karen) living in the Delta region, mostly). We found it hard to reach the church amid the wind, rain and rising water. To make sure we stayed together, we tied ourselves to each other with a homemade coconut rope. At one point, the rope broke. Only my mother and I were joined together. The others were washed away by the tide. I grabbed my mother with one hand with all my strength. We hit a tree that was floating adrift. My hand weakened because of the force then I lost my Mum there. I was terrified and clung onto that tree the whole night. The tide submerged me many times. Saturday, May 3 The next morning when the light came out, the water had already receded. I climbed down but I could no longer walk. Pain covered my whole body. Luckily I found a buffalo and rode toward the village. I found nothing where my house used to be. But I found a knife and headed toward the church. I didn't notice that I was naked. I found many people at the church. Someone gave me a shirt. Our village has two pastors. Both of them died. Out of more than 1,000 villagers only about 30 percent made it out alive. We ate some rice cooked with salty water and it tasted like pig-food. Sunday, May 4 The next day we walked to a nearby village. But they told us to go to the town of Pyinsalu, which was also very badly damaged and only 10 per cent of its residents were alive. We found countless number of corpses floating in the rivers and also on the roads. The bad smell was everywhere in the air. There we were provided a mix of rice and noodles. But no fresh water. We relied on drinking coconut drink. Monday, May 5 We were sent to Latputta Township by a ferryboat. Tens of thousands of survivors were already stranded in the town. We went to an acquaintance’s house to stay there. We had nothing to eat. So I went out on streets, jostling to get boiled rice. Only stronger people got that scarce food. A rice trader donated that food. That place was a different hell from my village. We had to stay there two days. Tuesday, May 6 I traveled to the district town of Myaung Mya by a truck loaded with survivors like us. I arrived at a camp. It's much better than the situation in Latputta. I was provided my first proper meal with rice and curry over the last seven days. I don't know what to do for my future. I don't want to go back to my village. It's now like a cemetery for me. I'll find some job in big city like Pathien or Yangon. But I don't know exactly what will happen to my future. Tens of thousands of children like Nyo Mynt lost loved ones to Cyclone Nargis and are now living in desperate conditions. This interview was collected in a displacement camp in Myaung Mya by a World Vision Myanmar aid worker.
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