Cyclone Aid Project 4: Pyapon, Bogale

Funded by: Cyclone Aid donors and sponsors

Donation Items:
1500 kg of rice (30 sacks; 1 sack ~ 50kg)
250 kg of yellow lentils (5 sacks; 1 sack ~ 50kg)
30 packs of Cereal (Each pack contains 30
sachets)
100 pieces of blankets
625 packets of biscuits
2 boxes of instant noodles
150 pcs of cooking pots
25 packs of candles
50 lighters
330 pcs of clothing (Assorted)
200 pcs of women sandals (Assorted sizes)

Project Expenditure - Main Fund:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pqVuU-s3oPiZQ0jp9BFmQSA

Sponsors:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pqVuU-s3oPiZoX78DI3tHZQ

Project Expenditure - Reserve Fund:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=peewW-g4TJXU-2x4Gh56RAA&gid=1

Photo Album: http://picasaweb.google.com/cyclone.aid/Project4/

Coordinator/Expedition Leader:
San Yu

Expedition Team:
U Sein Tun, Daw Yee Yee, Ko Zaw Win, Ko Myo Min, Ko Kyaw Kyaw, Ko Aung Hein Naing,
Ma Thawdar

Special Thanks to:

1. U Aye, who not only sponsored his motorboat, but also gave us a place for lunch, and
bought us dinner
2. Ko Mayan Thee who helped us to re-pack all the stocks for transportation
3. Daw Yee Yee and Ko Nay Zaw for providing food for the expedition team
4. The van driver and his assistant who helped us distribute the food and clothing items to
the survivors

Background:
According to the U.N. Health Cluster, a recent NGO assessment of Bogale township,
Ayeyarwady Division, indicated that 23,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) are currently
residing in Bogale town, while approximately 60,000 IDPs are living in surrounding areas.
The NGO assessment team reports that the public hospital in Bogale township remains
functional despite extensive cyclone damage. However, 12 of 15 existing private health
clinics in the area are no longer operating due to cyclone-induced destruction.
On May 22, OCHA reported preliminary estimates of 110,000 people living in temporary
settlements in 14 townships, including Labutta, Bogale, Myaungmya, and Pyapon townships
in Ayeyarwady Division and Kungyangon township in Rangoon Division. Of the 14 temporary
settlements, approximately 70 percent of the displaced are sheltering in monasteries, 28
percent in public buildings, and 2 percent in tented camps.

[Ref: US Aid]

Expedition Diary:

The expedition team gathered on 23.May.2008 at 10am to buy and pack donation items for
the trip. The initial plan was to set off on the 25th of May. However, it took us two days to
prepare the items and to source for a truck. As the trip we were planning was far (10 hours
ride), and the journey was tedious, most truck hires were charging about 4.5 lakh (Ks
450,000) for the whole trip. Finally, on the 24th evening, we managed to secure a truck at
Ks 70,000, on the condition that we pay for petrol. This done, we had to hunt for 25 gallons
of petrol from various sources. (In Burma, petrol is rationed at government-run kiosks, and
large quantities can only be bought on the black market.)

In order to cut costs, we wanted to make it a day trip so that we would not need to pay for
accommodation. It was also unlikely that there was any accommodation available at all in
the area; we have heard that NGO's have block-booked most of the habitable places, and
monasteries are crammed with cyclone survivors.

We set off at 3am on the 26th of May. We travelled to Pyapon and started distributing food
and clothes to villages off the road. From there, we continued to Bogale township. We
visited a few monasteries to make donations for survivors taking shelter in them.

With the help of U Aye who owns a

motorboat, we were also able to cross the
river to AyerThaman area which was
situated on the opposite bank. People
there were extremely hard up as it was
difficult for private donors to reach their
area. They were previously taking refuge
in Bogale, but had been asked to return to
their villages. They were severely short of
food, and some of them immediately
started opening the packets of biscuits
that we distributed.

U Aye also very kindly let us take our mid-

day meal at his rice mill, and bought us
dinner on the way back.

At one point, a monk approached us to ask for donations. He told us that the village he
stayed in was completed destroyed including the monastery. He asked us to help as much
as we can, and we offered him rice, lentils, blankets, biscuits, and cereal so that he could
provide them for the refugees in his village. He produced a letter of authenticity from the
Association of Monks to prove to us that he was genuine.

On the way back, we were informed by the police that, for safety reasons, we were not
allowed to distribute items to anyone camped by the roadside. A few days earlier, a notice
has been issued to private donors to tell them that they were not allowed to distribute any
aid to refugees camped by the road side. Volunteers who broke the rules have been
detained, and cars impounded. As a result, we were very careful not to break any rules as
we ran the risk of not being able to continue with our aid work.

We returned to Yangon at about 1230am on the 27th of May, having completed another
donation round.

http://cyclone-aid.blogspot.com

This report was prepared by San Yu on 2008-05-28.