By Pamela Sitko

Pamela Sitko is a relief communicator for World Vision. When Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar’s Delta region on May 2, 2008, Sitko worked around the clock reporting on the disaster. A year later, Sitko revisits the areas devastated by Cylcone Nargis to see how World Vision is helping families recover.

Maung will always remember the night Cyclone Nargis struck as the time when he moved from boyhood to manhood.  

The 16 year old survived the cyclone, which tore the roofs off homes, wrapped fishing boats around coconut trees and claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people. But Maung says life following Nargis has been just as hard.

It was one of Myanmar’s deadliest and most destructive storms ever. Maung and 40 other people crowded into a small wooden house together. In the height of the storm, the walls and roof collapsed but the villagers continued to hide from the storm under the shelter of the rubble. When the storm subsided, Maung says, there was only one house left standing in a row of 15.

“Will We Survive?”
The damage was frightening and so too were the days that followed. “I was worried,” Maung recalls. “We lived off coconuts and I wondered if we were going to survive.”

More than 80 people—nearly one-quarter of the population—had lost their lives in Maung’s village. His father considers their community lucky. In the village across the river, no one survived. For 18 terrifying days Maung’s village remained isolated until World Vision docked its boats on the shore, carrying survival kits of rice, water and clothing to desperate villagers.

One year on, Maung is back at work with his father, trawling Bogale’s largest tributary for fish, using a boat and fishing nets provide by World Vision. He must work hard to help support his mother and 14-year-old sister.

“We leave at five at night and come back by eight a.m. the next day,” explains the young boy. “We look for a spot not taken by another fisherman. Then we cast our nets and wait for the tide to rise. After it rises, we raise our nets to see what we’ve caught.”

Reviving Livelihoods
As part of its recovery efforts in Myanmar, World Vision has provided 247 boats to families in villages across Bogale, Pyapon and Hainggyi districts. The beneficiaries were nominated by their communities as the families in greatest need.

Reviving livelihood activities in small villages like Maung’s is key to bringing back the Delta in its entirety, says World Vision’s Field Coordinator, Adino.

“When we first reached this village we were distributing rice to people who hadn’t eaten for days,” says Adino. “Now we are distributing boats and income-generating equipment so people can provide for their families on their own. The people here are very hard working. With some extra help, I think we can bring back the Delta and make it the hub of activity that it used to be.”

One year on, Maung is working harder than ever to be like his father and take care of the family. “I’m going to have my own boat someday,” he vows. Maung also plans to trade in his oars for an engine. “I want to have a big engine so I can fish anywhere in the Bogale River,” he declares.

Read more about World Vision’s recovery efforts in Myanmar and personal stories from other survivors.