When
a massive cyclone hit western Myanmar west recently, volunteer
Ko Nyut Shwe was ready to put his newly-acquired skills into
practice.
The Myanmar Red Cross Society volunteer's first task was to
travel from one village to another in Rakhine state, to assess
the damage done by the cyclone which swept in off the Bay of
Bengal, affecting 25,000 people, bringing down phone and electricity
lines, washing away roads, contaminating water supplies and
destroying countless homes, schools and businesses.
An estimated 220 people were killed by the cyclone in coastal
towns and nearby islands. Tidal surges and flooding followed
the storm, leaving more than 18,000 people homeless and many
missing.
Immediately after the disaster, despite many difficulties, Ko
Nyut Shwe moved around the cyclone-hit state to assess the damage
and call for relief items from the government and from Red Cross
warehouses.
In doing so, he put into practice what he learned last year
at a Disaster Assessment and Response Team (DART) training course,
which was organized and funded by the International Federation.
In March of this year, he passed on this knowledge to other
Red Cross volunteers, government agencies and other local agencies
responsible for disaster management in Rakhine when he organized
a ‘DART multiplier’ course.
Preparing for disaster paid off, says Ko Nyut Shwe, whose training
meant he had volunteers on standby to respond to the cyclone.
"I learnt the importance of disaster preparedness on the
DART course. Many lives could be saved especially in the rural
areas through the disaster preparedness activities. I urge other
disaster-prone states to start developing a disaster contingency
plan if they have not done so."
Following his assessment, the Myanmar Red Cross Society distributed
its total stock of household kits, each containing 24 basic
household items.
Planning is especially important in remote areas, which might
be cut off from help, he says: "Access to remote areas
is limited, thus reducing and delaying response to the most
affected. As such, it is all the more vital that people in these
areas are prepared for disaster, especially when it generally
takes longer for people in rural areas to recover after a disaster".
But reaching isolated communities wasn't the only obstacle Ko
Nyut Shwe faced. Left with limited resources, Ko Nyut Shwe had
to borrow a telephone to make daily calls to Red Cross headquarters
in Yangon to provide updates.
Although Ko Nyut Shwe has been a Red Cross volunteer since 1972,
this was the first time he had been involved in a relief operation
of this magnitude. Currently on leave from his job with the
Rakhine State Municipality, Ko Nyut Shwe is still working full
time on the relief effort under way in Rakhine, including resettling
affected people and helping to get their lives back to normal.
Following the disaster, the International Federation launched
an appeal for 201,000 Swiss francs for three months to address
immediate needs - including providing food and non-food items
to 14,000 people. The appeal also aims to reduce their vulnerability
to future disasters.
|
 |
 |
|
|
Myanmar
Red Cross volunteers help in the clear-up operation following
the deadly cyclone (p11733)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Red
Cross volunteer Ko Nyut Shwe went from village to village
to assess the level of damage, putting his disaster response
training to good use (p11731)
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Ko
Nyut Shwe passed on the knowledge he acquired on the Disaster
Assessment and Response Team (DART) training course to
other Myanmar Red Cross volunteers (p11732)
|
|
News
