The cyclone that hit Myanmar on 2nd of May 2008 and its aftermath resulted in a tragedy beyond description. Many tragic stories abound, and we share with you one of many such personal accounts of the catastrophe that ruins so many peoples’ lives.

From Kyi Kyi Seinn, a fellow in our “Building a Better Asia Fellowship” (BABA): My friend lost all his family and relatives; he lives because he happens to be away overseas. A frequent visitor to our neighbor's house lost 40 relatives. From the disaster zones, I hear of how people lost their loved ones. A helpless man saw her pregnant wife disappeared in the gushing flood. Families huddling together were ripped apart by the rising waters. Among many families, no one survived when entire households perished.

Within the first 2 days of the terrible storm, independent groups and individuals gave life-saving support to the victims. For instance, in the immediate aftermath, the United Nation's World Food Programme (UN-WFP) distributed 1000 tons of food out of the 50,000 tons for such an emergency. Since the disaster occurred, the UN estimated that 262,000 persons have received some kind of assistances from international NGOs. Unfortunately, many victims have not been added. This is because of the sheer number of people affected. The United Nation’s Development Program (Myanmar’s Information and Management Unit) estimates that 180,000 people were dead or gone missing while up to 2.5 million people were affected by the calamity. The survivals not only have to overcome their personal tragedies; they have to cope with a bleak future, for 24 million acres of land were submerged underwater; affecting 20 % of the country’s rice production area and killed 33% of her livestock.

A devastation of such a tremendous scale means all forms of help are need.

Help is needed, NOW. Beyond the effort of governments and organized relief organizations, ordinary people have come together to do extraordinary things. They faced numerous obstacles and challenges, and their resources are stretched to the limit. As Kyi Kyi, our Fellow informs, “Since I'm out of country studying in the Philippines, I'm unable to join such work but I find comfort in doing what I can from here, such as sharing the news of these relief efforts. Although I do not know of other groups, I can share some insight on what my sisters and our friends (doctors, individuals from NGOs, and those from various professions) are doing. Like others, they strive to get the much needed aids to the people. They fork out their own money for traveling and they bring donations to the affected areas. To ensure more people receive the aids, they coordinate with other groups to avoid duplication of efforts.”

Recognizing this tragedy, we, the fellows of the BABA fellowship launched a fund to collect and deliver financial aids to support these ordinary people non-governmental relief efforts. To ensure better management and accountability of the aids, we are forming a coordinated effort by linking donors to selected relief organizations that our fellows in Myanmar can monitor of the activities. We want to ensure that the funds generated are due to where they belong.