More than three weeks after Cyclone Nargis tore across Myanmar’s Irrawaddy delta, assessments still place the provision of clean water as one of the top priorities for survivors.
The International Federation, in close cooperation with the Myanmar Red Cross and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) continues to explore ways of trying to meet these needs.
An ICRC water purification unit was deployed to Dedaye, a town in the delta, on 24 May, manned by five Myanmar Red Cross volunteers. The unit has been set up and has started to produce 72,000 litres of water a day.
In Yangon, five French Red Cross water engineers, in Myanmar as part of an International Federation water and sanitation emergency response unit (ERU), have begun training of 10 local Red Cross volunteers along with nine engineers from a local water company. Once the training is completed, these volunteers and new recruits will be dispatched to the field.
Don Atkinson, head of the Red Cross Red Crescent water and sanitation programme in Myanmar, explains the need for this training.
“As we cannot go into the field at this moment, we have organized some training for Myanmar nationals to be deployed. These engineers are truly professionals, and they will do an excellent job in providing clean drinking water for the community,” he said.
The training will help the new team become familiar with the equipment, showing them how to maintain and monitor it. Once they are familiar, they will practice setting it up in Yangon, before heading out into the delta.
Franck Haaser, ERU team leader said “I am happy to see that all the trainees are doing so well. When deployed to the field, they will be able to provide clean water for 40,000 people, with each person receiving 15 litres of water a day.”
Mr. Aung Tun, an experienced water and sanitation engineer in Yangon, is one of the team’s new recruits. Although most of the equipment is new to him, he feels that the training will enable him to do what needs to be done once he gets out to the field.
“As soon as I finish training, I am ready to be dispatched to the site with this equipment,” he said. “I am confident that I can provide people with much safe drinking water. I want to help our people.”
Six of the engineers will travel out to the delta as part of Red Cross assessment teams, using their training identify water and sanitation needs of affected communities, information that is so important for planning long-term disaster responses.
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Mr. Aung Tun, an experienced water and sanitation engineer in Yangon, has been recruited to help deliver clean water to cyclone survivors in the delta. “As soon as I finish training, I am ready to be dispatched to the site with this equipment,” he said. “I want to help our people.”. (p17688)
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In Yangon, the International Federation water and sanitation team has begun training 10 local Red Cross volunteers along with nine engineers from a local water company. Once the training is completed, these volunteers and new recruits will be dispatched to the field. (p17689)
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