Relief & Rehabilitation Update
for Period: 23 October to 18 November 2009
Report:
Firefly Mission Cyclone Nargis Rehabilitation Project – Phase D
Prepared by Bro
Chan ST
23 October 2009
My thanks to those of you who have send me
off at the airport and fed me, hopefully not my last meal. If it
is going the last meal, so be it. To those of you who are not
able to make, your thoughts meant a lot.
This was my longest break from the Delta and
it has made me lethargic. Since my arrival to Myanmar, the idle mode had to be rev
up.
Upon my arrival, the usual people did not
come to the airport made me wondering what was going on. Anyway,
I made my way to Eden’s office and was told
that the usual driver assigned to me was sicked. After settling
all the matters with
Eden staff, I went to Khin Naing’s house
and saw him there. Looking at his condition, I was too
optimistic on his duration of life but he passed on the next
morning before dawn. Before he passed on, he told his familiy
that I would be coming in October, probably he waited for me to
let go. In all our travel together, I always told him the worst
part of death is not having done wholesome act when the
opportunities knock. Most of the time, he made offerings on our
part while I took the picture. The shot of me ploughing the
field was taken by him, little did I expected it to be posted on
the internet.
At Eden’s, WMK provided me all the needs required
for to function and also mentioned that he would help for our
permit to Shwegyin if we have problem getting it.
In the evening, I handed US$2,000 to Ven.
Sopaka for his brother who is studying for his master in India.
Coincidentally, he called his brother Ven. Sopaka, Ven. Sopaka
told him about the stipend that FFM is supporting.
24 October 2009, Saturday
KN passed away at about 0400 and I attended
his funeral. His mother and son sat in the car provided by WMK.
Ven. Aggasara and I met Daw Nu Nu Yee to
discuss about Shwegyin permit. We also told her that if she have
problem to inform us and we would inform our local partner to
help in the matter.
25 October 2009, Sunday
I went to Ven. Inndaka’s monastery to dana
the money for the 2010 summer course and also informed him that
it would be the last time we are sponsoring the course.
I handed over to Ven. Aggasara the money for
kitchen building and child sponsorship, Ven. Aggasara also told
me that he expanded the kitchen by 10 feet which I felt was good
move.
I paid settled the extra expenses Ven.
Sopaka had incurred whilst I was away and also clarified the
account.
26 October 2009, Monday
I decided to wrap up the trip north before
going to the Delta after speaking to Ven. Sopaka about the
building material situation because bricks are expensive at the
moment. We departed for Shweyin with the new driver, Ye Naing
who is a muslim. He was
the other driver who followed us during the filming of FFM
activity in the Delta and was selected because he does not
drink.
Upon arrival at Shwegyin, Ven. Aggasara
distributed apples for the children as a treat which he bought.
27 October 2009, Tuesday
0730 – Departed for Lashio, during the way
before Kyautaga, our van suffered a leak from the radiator and
it was confirmed that the cause was missing clip. Ye Naing had
to take a motorbike ride to Nyaunglebin to buy the clip. By the
time the clip was fixed, it was almost 1100 and we had lunch at
near to Phyu. At Phyu, we took the new highway leading to the
Naypyitaw.
1445 – Arrived Htantabin, upon meeting Ven.
Kevala, I told him that there were balance money from the paint
and handed the money to him which I had left with Eden for the purpose.
Htantabin building was painted and should be
completed soon. I spoke to Ven. Kevala about the sign board and
left him the discretion of naming the building.
Htantabin School, Pyinmana
28 October 2009, Wednesday
0515 – We left Htantabin early because we
want to be in Maymyo before lunch. I dropped into Brahma Vihari
to take a look at the damp wall in the lower shrine hall. I
realized that the wall was built against the slope and it was
not possible to have the usual remedy.
At Thibaw ( Hsipaw ), we called Sayalay
Nanamalar during our break from the journey and told her that we
would meet her at the building site. We were early and decided
to go to the site ourselves since she was not around. After I
had taken the pictures, we met her at the entrance to the site.
She arranged for us to sleep at the
monastery opposite her nunnery for the night. We told her that
we would like to leave early but she told Ven. Aggasara that she
would like to offer breakfast dana. Ven. Aggasara accepted the
invitation. After enquiring about the completion date and
estimate to complete the building, I handed her 5.5 million
kyats.
School
building, Lashio
29 October 2009, Thursday
We left just before 0600 after the having a
Shan breakfast which consist of noodles and preserved vegetables
with Shan tofu. At Lashio, we top up the van with diesel. This
thankful of diesel last us 460 km before we fuel again at
Yamethin. Yesterday, we fueled 8 gallon of diesel just before
the toll at Maymyo which last us about 190 km. We concluded that
we were short changed at Maymyo, such is the hazard besides
getting poor quality fuel.
We arrived in the evening at Pyinmana and we
slept at Htantabin monastery. Somehow, Ven. Aggasara and I
concluded this is a good stop which we cannot avoid.
On our way back, many towns were having
their Khatina celebrations which to me was rowdy and noisy
resulting in traffic jam.
30 October 2009, Friday
We left just before 0555, decided to take
the old highway because of the radiator problem which leaked and
had to be top up with water about every 100 km. We managed to
reach Nyaunglebin before noon and went to Shwegyin after lunch.
I took the opportunity to jog which I missed
when I was in
Singapore. That evening, we went to
the town to meet Bhante’s teacher.
I decided to stay in another night in
Shwegyin because Ven. Sopaka was busy with his monastery Khatina
celebration.
Boy Hostel,
Shwegyin
Kitchen
building, Shwegyin
1 November - 2 November 2009
I made preparation with Eden staff to buy material for the bridge and
ordered water tank for the kitchen.
I also spent time
discussing with the
Eden engineer
who happened to be in charge of building a bridge for the
company. He had a copy of the drawing and I requested a copy
from him. I was surprised our bridge design is more conservative
considering the fact theirs are meant for vehicle traffic.
3 November 2009
Tuesday
0655 – Left for the delta with Ven. Manita
and Shwe Hla Win (
builder ), Ven. Sopaka could not follow because he was giving
dhamma talk. We reach Pyapon before noon and after lunch we
tried to leave for Gwe Kone village ( Dedaye Township ) but had to be aborted due to
boat engine problem. So I decided to head early for Bogale,
hoping to be early to visit Khayanti Chaung. Somehow today the
event to not turn out as planned, Win Aung was expecting us
about 1700 and he was not around. So I was not able to visit any
places.
4 November 2009
Wednesday
0800 – Left with Ven. Manita, Ven. Pannajota
and Win Aung to select the schools to be built. We reached the
first village
in a fast time because the current was in our favour.
Kyet Sha Kyun Chaung Village
Lat & Long : N 16 deg 10.395 E095 deg 11.403
Distance from Maw Gyun Town : 35 km
Population : 320
Family : 82
Cyclone Nargis death : 95
School children : 54
It is the furthest
village that we would be building a school from Maw Gyun town
and to reach the village, we had to use a different river to get
there.
Present school, Kyet Sha Kyun Chaung
Land donor, Kyet Sha Kyun Chaung
Fuel pipe burst on the way to Khayanthi village. Ven. Manita
was helping out.
Hma Thaing Village
Lat & Long : N 16 deg 07.792 E095 deg
12.913. About 4.38 km south of Kyaung Tawya Aung Hlaing.
Population : 220
Family : 60
Cyclone Nargis death : 230
School children : 60
The villagers from the 2 villages accepted
the usual conditions set out for the construction of school
building.
Hma Thaing is the poorest village I had seen
so far, the monastery is made of natural material and hardly any
trees in this village. After looking at the local conditions, I
told Shwe Hla Win to raise the floor level by 1 foot to take
care of the seasonal flooding which we had witnessed during the
filming at Dedaye.
Actually, there were another 2 villages
straddled between, it became history when Cyclone took its toll
on these 2 villages. One village was wiped out totally and
survivors from other village was less than the fingers in our
palm. After Cyclone Nargis, the other 2 villages were
incorporated under Hma Thaing.
In the
foreground, Hma Thaing school, the monastery is next to the
school.
Nyein Oo Clinic
Nyein Oo Middle School
Laputtalokgyi Village
Lat & Long : N 16 deg 29.231 E095 deg 14.673
Distance from Maw Gyun Town : 18 km to the North.
Population : 1238
Family : 405
Cyclone Nargis death : Nil,
School children : 118
Laputtalokgyi Village School
6 November 2009 Friday
0815 – Departed for Yangon,
stop at Pyapon to visit Gwe Kone village after lunch. Our boat
could not reach the village because the stream is dam up for the
hot season crop. Ven. Tejaniya told me that the school is
completed in the last week of September which took them about 5
months. Comparing him to Maw Gyun, his pace is very slow
Star of Channel U program ‘ City Footprints” who was
describing what happened on that fateful day.
11 November 2009 Wednesday
I fetched Ven. Aggasara at the bus station
and headed for Kungyangon town after lunch. . On the way to
Kungyangon, I asked Ven. Aggasara about the road conditions and
distance as compare to Shwegyin road and his brother told him it
is better than Shwegyin road and about 27 miles with a travel
time about 2 ½ hour. We arrived about 1330 hour and left shortly
in a world war 2 jeep for Thorkay village ( Kungyangon township
still under Yangon
Division ) with his brother monk who had waited us at the main
road. We were totally unprepared for the road conditions and
during the journey for most of the way, I felt like riding a
horse for 3 hours for 32 miles ( I had a GPS ). The romance of
travel in a World War 2 jeep gave us sore arms and backs.Along the way, the jeep had to travel on the
beach and round a well that was right in the middle of the
village road. We arrived another village before Thorkay to look
into the water way access about 1600. We hardly spent less than 15 minutes in our
stop Ven. Aggasara told his fellow monk that we were not going
to the village because it was getting late. Moreover, we were
not going to risk getting back in the dark with a very poor road
conditions. On the journey back to Kungyangon town, though Ven.
Aggasara was upset with the monk but he still managed to joke he
probably would lose weight if he going to make another 2 similar
trips. On a serious note, I told Ven. Aggasara, if we are
building a school in his village, we need reliable and accurate
information or else it is going to be very expensive getting the
building material into the village.Just before leaving for Yangon, Ven. Aggasara parting shot to his fellow monk that
had he known the journey was rough and long, he would not travel
in the jeep and would rather get into the village in a boat from
Kyauktan which is after Thanlyn ( Kemarama nunnery ). By the
time I reach Yangon it was almost 2230.This village is near to the sea, and is
nearer to Yangon than Kungyangon town, were spared the flood caused
by Cyclone Nargis. The area where water level rose as high as 12
feet, was between Dedaye and Kungyangon towns. During Team 1
return to Yangon, after passing Dedaye and before Kungyangon, we saw
the rice straws got stuck on the tree branches after the water
had receded.
Thorkay Village ( Kungyangon
Township )
Lat & Long : N16 deg. 26.432 min.
E096 deg. 17.487 min.
( Note this is not the exact position,
we have about 1 more km before we reach the village. )
According to Ven. Aggasara, one good quality
about this particular naive monk, is that he works hard and
managed to pass his exam by sheer hard work. After graduating,
he decided to return to his home village to help. Presently, he
is educating the poor and partial orphan children from his
village
Jeep stopped near to Thorkay village
12 November 2009 Thursday
0735 – Vens. Sopaka, Pannajota, Pannyvamsa
and I departed for Laputta together with our driver. The road
leading to Pantanaw was under intensive repair and we took more
than 3 hours to Pantanaw which could have taken us about 1 ½
hour journey from Yangon
monastery. At Ven. Sopaka devotee’s house, we stopped for lunch
with the food that we brought along near to Kyaungon.
It took us about another 2 hours to reach
Myaungmya, the last town that leads to Laputta about 67 km away.
It was more than 3 hours drive and we reached Laputta 1930,
almost 12 hours for a distance of 300 km. As usual we travelled
on the unpaved road with lots of potholes and humps.
Laputta town does not seem to suffer much
damages, I was told most of the damages were cause in the
outlying area. Actually, Pinsalu was the entry point of Cyclone
Nargis before it reach Laputta. Laputta monk, Ven. Kondannya and the village
venerables had waited for us, we decided to visit the Ta Pyay
Chaung under Pinsalu township ( Administration still under
Laputta) in the night since we decided that we were not going to
stay for another night . Before Cyclone Nargis, this place was
under Laputta
Township since then had
been upgraded into a township.About 2000, we left the town jetty and
travelled in a south westerly direction for about 21 km to reach
the village. We had to walk about 1.5 km to reach the school
site. This is a government school and the government provides 5
teachers and another 3 teachers were PAID by the
villagers.
The
Pye Chaung Village, Pinsalu Township
Lat & Long : N15 deg. 58.512 min.
E094 deg. 42.037 min.
- 348 families with a population of 1144 and
180 students studying. Prior to CN, the population was more than
3,000 and CN death toll was over 800. I was told there is no
monastery run school in Laputta area. Presently, there is a
standard school block under construction ( 60 feet by 30 feet
with 6 feet corridor ). There is need for another 2 blocks of
similar size to cater up to middle school level.
The proposed old school site was totally
demolished by CN and the villagers and the venerable is hoping
that FFM would take up one block. Ven. Sopaka and I expected the
transport cost would be much higher than Maw Gyun, if we start
building it would be probably next year ( 2010 ).
Since this is government school, we would ask the
villagers to apply for wood at government price which may help
to partially offset the higher cost
Proposed school at The Pye Chaung,
Pinsalu township. Old school site totally destroyed.
The Pye Chaung temporary
school. The sign showed that it is under Pinsalu Township
0725 – Left
Laputta, stopped at Bodhimyaing Monastery at Myaungmya for
lunch. Ven. Pannajota’s teacher is the abbot and he remembers me
that this was the second time I visited his monastery. I enjoyed
coming to this monastery because of the many big and hardwood
trees that are preserved. With global warming taking place, it
is a rare and heartening to see forest being preserved
especially in the delta region. It was cool respite from a 3
hours back breaking journey.
Sometimes I wonder how could someone taken a decision to
travel in the night where there were no breakdown facility
available around the area
Large tree at Bodhimyaing monastery, Myaungmya
With ongoing repair taking place on the
highway, punctured tyre caused by the sharp stones, was a pretty
common affair. The van that I was travelling routinely had
punctured tyres.
18 November 2009
Thursday
0700 – Departed for Kanni village ( Laputta
township previously under Myaungmya Township, after Cyclone
Nargis it came under Laputta ), From Maw Gyun, we had to travel
70 km away, after a boat ride of slightly more than 3 hours, we
arrived at this village.
The boat ride was smooth and we could rest without the
usual bumps had we taken the land route and change into a boat
at Myaungmya. If this was a village boat, it would probably take
us more than 5 hours. Ven. Thukay ( home village ) arrived in
the morning to join us on the trip.
We were greeted by the villagers who had
waited for us at the jetty. It is the home village of the monk
who was travelling on the boat with us. He reached Maw Gyun in
the wee hours of morning to take us to the village.
Kanni Village, Laputta Township
Lat & Long : N16 deg. 23.186 min.
E094 deg. 52.052 min.,
Population
- 950, Family – 190, Students – 106. School Status –
government. The old school was destroyed by Cyclone Nargis but
no one died in this village. The government has only 150 zinc
sheet.
This village school is located on high
ground and would not require the usual slab roof which means the
cost would be cheaper if we are going to build according to the
government standard 60 feet by 30 feet. We could use the
incomplete building material to bring the cost lower and also
lower the floor level because it is not in a flood prone area.
However, to cater for the large number of
students, we would have to extend by another 20 feet along the
length. I do not think it would cost more than $35,000 for 80 by
30 feet school because our normal school was about 20 % more
when the slab roof was incorporated than the usual RC building.
Though we visited this village later, Ven.
Sopaka and I prefer to build this school ahead of Laputalokgyi.
School building in Maw Gyun Township
We had bought materials for Hma Thaing and
Kyun Chaung villages, it would be sent on the next available
boat bound for Maw Gyun. For the moment, bricks are scarce and
expensive just after the monsoon season. We would probably get
it in late November.
For both schools in Kungyangon and Pinsalu Townships, we would start building next
year in February. I estimate the cost would be higher than the
schools in Maw Gyun due to transport and building material
availability. Ven. Aggasara told me he would have to help out in
sending the material to Thorkay village ( Kungyangon township ).
For The Pye Chaung, we would work out the details with the local
monks and village before we proceed. It means another 11 hours
journey to Laputta at least one more time.
The schools would be built in the following
orders;
1.
Hma Thaing ( Maw
Gyun Tsp. ) – Building materials sent
2.
Kyet Sha Kyun
Chaung ( Maw Gyun Tsp. ) - Building materials sent
3.
Kanni
( Laputta Tsp. ) – Planning stage, most likely to start
in late February 2010
4.
Thorkay (
Kungyangon Tsp. ) – Planning stage, Ven. Aggasara would help in
coordinating this school. Most likely to start in late February
2010. I need to visit the village one more time.
5.
The Pye Chaung (
Pinsalu Tsp. ) – Planning – we need to visit one more time.
6.
Laputtalokgyi (Maw
Gyun Tsp. ) – Last school to be built unless we have funds after
building another bridge at The Pye Chaung. This school need 2
blocks of normal school ( 108 feet by 26 feet ).
Bridge
The contractor whom we hired would be going
to Nyein Oo village on 17 November. I had seen his workmanship
at Khayanthi school and like how he placed the mild steel bar on
the slab roof. I had briefed him on the technicalities of the
bridge. All the equipments required would be sourced by me. WMK
had kindly lent me 2 round steel moulds which they had finished
for their Naypyitaw project which he had to send down from their
store.
The load on the bridge would be light
because we are going to have timber deck. There would be less
loading on the foundation
Villagers digging the hole for foundation.
Update in pdf format
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