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Seven year-old Nway lost all of her family members, her house, and her friends and her school when Cyclone Nargis devastated southwestern Myanmar in May 2008.
Myanmar Cyclone Response
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Nway’s family were not out of the ordinary for their Delta village; a family of six living in a little wood and bamboo house built in a rice paddy, earning their living growing rice. Nway was the third child of four.
As her house was a bit small for the whole family, Nway often slept at her aunt's house; a wooden house on stilts located beside the only main road of the village.
On the evening of May 2nd, Nway was fortunate enough to have chosen to stay with her aunt. The wind started blowing in the late afternoon, but no one suspected it was anything more than a normal thunderstorm brewing.
Within a few hours, sea water started rising, and the winds became more ferocious.
''When the water entered the house, I placed Nway in a wooden box, thinking it might save her," recalled Nway's aunt.'' But later I changed my mind and took her back into my arms."
In the dark, after a few hours of tearing wind and rain, the storm slowed. Most houses in the villages had already lost their roofing and the flood water was up to over a metre and a half (five feet) deep in places.
The residents of the village thought the worst was over. But after about half an hour the winds returned, but from a different direction, and even fiercer that before.
"As our house started breaking down, my uncle took me to the house of the village head," recalled Nyaw. ''It was totally dark but very noisy. We fell into the water several times. Water came into my mouth."
More than 100 villagers squeezed into the house of the village head that night. They stood up, tightly packed together, praying and hoping for the storm to end.
By this time the water was up to three metres deep outside (10 feet).
Shortly after midnight the wind stopped. But this time nobody dared go outside. Injured and frightened, they waited for the dawn.
Days after the storm: Silent chaos
When the sun came up, the village head's house was the only house still standing. Many family members were missing. The survivors searched and only recovered dead bodies under the debris. A quarter of the population of 400 perished, most of them women and children. Among them were Nway’s parents and her three siblings.
The period following the storm was as hard as the storm for the survivors. Nothing was left for them in the village. What the wind blew down, the tidal surge swept away - rice, household utensils, farming tools, cows, buffalos and even clothing.
Nway remembers eating a meal on the 3rd of May. ''I don’t know what it was, but it was plain white and very salty,” she recalls. In the next few days, the survivors ate and drank just coconuts. Realising that help could still be some way off, the women and children were sent to nearby villages where water could be found.
Taking shelter at one of those villages, Nway received food and clothing. Among the gifts, the yellow silk blouse she wears is her favorite. When World Vision arrived at Nway’s devastated village, people were given much-needed rice and household items. As supplies began arriving in the village, so too did former residents, once again able to survive and begin rebuilding their lives.
Throughout the fallout from Cyclone Nargis the farmers of the village have been trying to start over, despite very little outside assistance. The months following the storm should have been the time for planting rice crops for the year. In years gone past, men and animals could have been seen working in the fields at the start of June, while children return to school.
But this year, because of Nargis, the paddy walls had split; fields were contaminated with salt water; animals, seeds, and tools had been lost. And so the fields remained empty, as did the shell of the village school.
''It's like the Stone Age," said the village head, tears forming in his eyes. “Burying the dead bodies has become our daily business. We can’t feel it any more.” As late as one month on, bodies were still being found around the village.
Blackout: Before receiving aid
When Nway was asked in early June about her future dreams, the girl hesitantly answered: '' I want to be a doctor."
But that dream seems a long way off. Her village middle school normally provides education for nearly 1,000 children from 11 nearby villages.
Surrounded by rice paddies and a little river, a Nway’s one-storey brick school in her small Delta village used to be all but paradise for seven-year-old Nway.
Now only a pile of green colored wood and bricks remains.
Chairs, desks, benches, blackboards, and materials were all washed away. At least three of the twenty teachers who worked at the school died in the cyclone, some are still missing. Nobody has counted yet how many children from the school died.
People in Myanmar often use the Burmese phrase, Ko Htu Ko Hta, roughly translated as "with our own effort." They often manage to build basic infrastructure like roads and schools with their own community budget.
But when a village elder and members of the school managing committee were asked about reconstruction, the answers were not encouraging. ''In the past, we built this school with our own money for the sake of our children," explained the elder. '' But now, without outside help, there's no way to rebuild it," he continued.
''This time, no Ko Htu Ko Hta," he said, disappointed and sad.
Six months on...
Nway is now happily going back to school. The temporary structure, loosely walled by tin and bamboo sheets and roofed with a big blue tarpaulin, is once again providing a place for the children of the village to learn. But there are no benches for students nor chairs or desks for teachers yet.
The school used to accommodate nearly 1000 students but barely half of them have been able to return.
It is far from the standard that one might hope for, or indeed that Nway and her friends had enjoyed before the storm. But the children at least have a chance to get back to their normal routine and learn once again.
Six months after the cyclone, it is obvious that many affected villagers, including children, are still struggling to survive. But like Nway many of them have a better hope with help from the international community and fellow citizens.
‘Nway’s’ name has been changed to protect her identity.
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