Email 
Print 
Tough times for those displaced by Nargis
Written by: World Vision
Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.
Hla looks downcast when talking about her plans for her future and her soon-to-be-born baby. She and her husband lost their home when Cyclone Nargis slammed into Myanmar in May - the worst disaster in the country's history. The couple have moved in with Hla's brother in Hlaing Tharyar, on the outskirts of Yangon, which was not as badly affected by Nargis. But work is scarce here. "I don't know what to do next. Now we work as daily laborers and get support from my brother," says 37-year-old Hla. Her husband tries to make ends meet by working odd jobs when he can find them. "Our house was totally destroyed and we couldn't survive without a lot of help. So we moved to my brother's place. But we didn't receive any support as we were not from this community." Hla, nearly a month pregnant when Nargis struck, lost all her savings and family belongings, and with them, her hopes for the future. But she recognizes that she was fortunate that her brother's family came through the cyclone and was able to offer support. Before the cyclone, she and her family owned about two acres of plantation in Kyite Latt. They would grow crops including banana, cucumber and guava. Hla went back to her home town after the cyclone to try to rebuild her life, but it wasn't possible and she was forced to return to Hlaing Tharyar. "I'm just thankful that nobody in our family died," says Hla's sister, 40-year-old Tin, who has also moved into their brother's home with her baby. She too had her house swept away. "We were lucky enough to move from our house before it collapsed and also make our way out into a boat," says Tin, recalling how the water rose up to the level of her shoulders. "We tried to build a small hut with the things that we could muster, but it is really hard to continue life there." The two families are unsure what to do next. With no savings and no tools with which to rebuild their lives, the future will be hard. All that they have from their old life is their ID cards.
Reuters AlertNet is not responsible for the content of external websites.
We welcome argument but AlertNet will not publish comments that are racist, abusive or libellous.
Leave a Reply
When you submit a comment to us we request your name, e-mail address and optionally a link to a website. Please note where you submit a website address, we may link to it via your name. By sending us a comment, you accept that we have the right to show the comment and your name to users. Although we require your email address, this will not be published on the site, and is only required to enable us to check facts with you, e.g. if you are making a claim we can not confirm easily. Additionally, if you would like your comment removed at anytime, you'll have to use this e-mail address when you contact us. To remove a comment at any time please e-mail us at blogs-(at)-reuters-(dot)-com (address obscured to avoid spam) specifying who you are and what you would like removed. We moderate all comments and will publish everything that advances the post directly or with relevant tangential information. We reserve the right to edit comments in order to maintain the quality of the comments, and may not include links to irrelevant material. We try not to publish comments that we think are offensive or appear to pass you off as another person, and we will be conservative if comments may be considered libelous. Reuters will use your data in accordance with Reuters privacy policy. Reuters Group is primarily responsible for managing your data. As Reuters is a global company your data will be transferred and available internationally, including in countries which do not have privacy laws but Reuters seeks to comply with its privacy policy.
All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content in this article, including by framing or by similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.
