Charity workers 'break down' at scale of devastation

Published Date: 09 May 2008
By EMILY PYKETT
AID workers are struggling to cope with the horror of the death and destruction wrought by Cyclone Nargis on Burma, the Scotsman playing a key role in the relief effort said last night.

Andrew Kirkwood, who has headed the Save The Children headquarters in the Bahan township in Rangoon for 13 years, told how his team is breaking down with grief at thenumber of people perishing in the floods that have swamped villages in the
southern delta.

Paisley-born Mr Kirkwood, 43, described how hundreds of homeless children are crammed into inner-city monasteries, churches and schools.

Nearly half the houses were destroyed in poor neighbourhoods, such as the Thingangyun, Shwe Pyi Par, the North Okkalapa and Insein townships of Rangoon. Among those the charity is struggling to help is Su Su Sandi, 12, who is sheltering in a religious hall in Thingangyun. "I was so scared and frightened I would be hit by flying roofs," she said.

Another girl, Hlaing Myat Mo, also 12, added: "I said prayers. I was worried about my father because he was at sea. I haven't got any news from him."

Four young siblings in Shwe Pyi Thar are being cared for by their blind grandfather U Ba Ye, 75, who said: "When Nagis hit our home, it was destroyed. We now have nowhere to live."

Mr Kirkwood's 80-strong team is experiencing "mini breakdowns" as workers struggle to come to terms with the devastation that has killed at least 22,980 people, with the latest estimates placing the final death toll at 100,000.

Yesterday, the Foreign Office said 17 British nationals were among the tens of thousands of people still unaccounted for.

Entire villages in the Irrawaddy delta are submerged, with bloated corpses piled up in the mangroves.

Clothes have been stripped off the dead and Save The Children is considering sending out boats manned by armed guards to prevent desperate survivors attacking them for food and drink supplies.

Mr Kirkwood, whose family home was smashed by a falling tree as the cyclone struck, said: "We have to negotiate security for our boats. We think we will need men with guns just to push the hordes back – you can imagine the chaos that would happen if you just arrived in a place."

Malaria outbreaks are infecting the delta and there is also the risk of cholera due to filthy water and corpses rotting in the tropical heat and humidity.

Burmese authorities have prevented Mr Kirkwood from leaving the capital so his efforts have been confined to helping some of the estimated one million left homeless by the cyclone.

"It's not uncommon to find 1,000 or more crammed into a small primary school," he said. "The conditions are not good, but at least we've taken food and water purification tablets."

It is now more than six days since the cyclone struck and hopes at the Save The Children HQ are fading. Mr Kirkwood said: "People can't live that long without fresh water. We know there are countless people in areas inundated by the tidal surge who have nothing to drink. We imagine they are dying of thirst or they will be dying very, very soon. Many of us have mini breakdowns imagining what it's like to be out there.

"We have to have a little cry in the corner – I find myself having to stop a little bit and just kind of push all the emotion back. I know that many people have experienced the same thing and I think spirits will start to flag further when even more reports come out of the delta."

He said the delay in opening the borders to charities and other agencies offering foreign aid could have cost many lives.

"The offers of assistance from the United States, especially military helicopters, would have absolutely facilitated things for us. I am not surprised those offers were not welcomed with open arms, but it has taken so long to get some of the United Nations' rapid response into Burma, it has not helped things at all."

UN planes bearing high- energy biscuits and medicine began arriving yesterday, but US military planes loaded with aid were still denied access.

The junta has also continued to stall on visas for UN teams seeking to deliver aid.