Cyclone Nargis

Friday, May 9, 2008

Well, as many of you know, I’ve been trying for the past few days/weeks to set up a video-blog on this site which I though might be a little bit more creative and fun than just a regular old blog. As it turns out, I’m having quite a bit of difficulty posting the videos I want to put up so as for now I will just try and post as often as possible while attempting to keep this blog as entertaining and informative as possible. If anyone has any questions, comments, or concerns please feel free to post something. I promise that it will be answered in some way or another.

As for an update as to my life here in here in Asia, things are going well. I suppose I should speak a little about Cyclone Nargis which recently hit Myanmar (Burma) just a short time ago. It is truly a tragic event which has happened but it has really opened my eyes to how news is covered around the world and how certain events receive greater news coverage than others depending upon their location. Cyclone Nargis is a perfect example of this. Cyclone Nargis hit the coast of Myanmar on May 2nd, 3rd, and 4th with the effects of the storm being felt as far south as Phuket here in Thailand. My village is slowly coming into the rainy season but during that time and shortly there after, we saw nothing but rain for nearly a week. During the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th my village was hit by violent thunderstorms and strong winds which were amazing to witness and nothing like I’ve ever seen before. I didn’t really think much of it since the rainy season was getting close and I am new to this climate. It wasn’t until a fellow volunteer up north asked if I was ok and if I had been through any of the storms from the cyclone that I started to look things up online. On May 4th I looked Nargis up online and all I could find were a few short articles on weather related websites. I found the path of the storm and from what I could tell the storm was over.

It wasn’t until I returned from a teacher training seminar in Phang Nga town (my province capital) that I received numerous e-mails and messages on Facebook from friends and loved ones concerned about my well-being following the cyclone. It was nice that they showed their concern but what I found interesting was that all of their e-mails and messages were dated from the 6th and 7th as were all of the articles I began to find online regarding the storm. A day ago the death toll was roughly 20,000 with another 40,000 missing. This morning that total has ballooned up to 100,000 according to the BBC and USA Today.

I know that their is a disclaimer at the top of this blog that what I post on here does not in any way reflect the opinions of Peace Corps or the United States government but I thought that might be worth repeating as what I am about to say won’t be the most up beat words one would expect a Peace Corps Volunteer to say regarding such a tragedy. The truth is that Myanmar is in a tough spot. The military government is currently dragging it’s feet with regard to international aid and relations with it’s closest neighbor, who has already been through a similar event, are hampered by a long history of distrust on both sides. The largest problem though is that the area that was hit is not a major tourist area for Myanmar and so once the world has something else to distract itself with, aid will most likely fall away. Many parts of Thailand were lucky following the tsunami in that many of the areas that were hit were very popular locations for western tourists and were quickly rebuilt. Smaller villages though which are off the beaten path had a much more difficult road to recovery and one can still see evidence of the tsunami in the daily lives of the people in this area. I’m sure it will be the same for those hit by this storm. I’m positive aid will come and help will arrive at some point, but I’m just concerned that the politics of the governments involved with make the rebuilding process that much more difficult. Combine that with the attention span of the world and I worry that this storm will be forgotten far too quickly.

If you are interested in helping those who have been devastated by Cyclone Nargis then may I suggest the World Vision Organization. I’m not trying to get people to donate so please don’t think that. I just noticed on a news website the list of organizations and aid groups that are operating in the area. World Vision is one such group and they are the same group which have continued to work in many of the rural villages of southern Thailand which did not receive the same sort of instant aid and assistance that major tourist areas did following the tsunami. To be honest, I know very little about the organization or the people who work for it. What I do know though is that the tsunami struck in December of 2004 and World Vision is still here helping people. So if you are at all interested in donating, may I suggest World Vision.

That’s all for now. I promise to put the soap box away next time.