AMURT and AMURTEL volunteers have been active since the cyclone hit on May 3 doing relief work. After the initial chaos we started assessments with funds that we were able to get in right away. We found many villages completely neglected and thousands of rotting corpses everywhere.

Mayanmar (Burma) was hit hard by cyclone Nargis on May 3. It is the worst natural disaster in East Asia since the tsunami of 2004. Most of the 38,500 confirmed deaths occurred in the southern Irrawaddy river delta region. Unofficial estimates put the deaths at 128.000+. The majority of people were killed by a tidal surge 12 ft (3.5m) high. Approximately 2,5 million people who have been affected with many loosing their homes. The old capital Rangoon is without electricity and has received enormous damage to its infrastructure.

Die Lage in Myanmar scheint noch schlimmer als 2004 in Banda Aceh zu sein. Dada Nirmalkrsnananda war vor einer Woche in Bangkok, kam dann nach Kuala Lumpur und versucht jetzt nach Myanmar zu reisen. Ich habe mit der Kindernothilfe in Duisburg telefoniert, sie werden ihn erneut finanziell unterstützen; der erste Teilbetrag ist sogar schon angewiesen worden.