Cyclone Aid Project 5: Pyapon River
Funded by: Cyclone Aid donors
Donation Items:
1500 kg of rice (30 sacks; 1 sack ~ 50kg)
200 kg of large yellow beans (5 sacks; 1 sack ~ 50kg)
900 sachets of cereal packets
300 packets of seasoning powder
200 pieces of blankets
200 pcs of cooking pots
150 pcs of plates (9 inch)
200 pcs of steel spoons
250 pcs of sandals (Assorted sizes Men, women, and children)
Project Expenditure - Main Fund:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pqVuU-s3oPiZQ0jp9BFmQSA
Project Expenditure - Reserve Fund:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=peewW-g4TJXU-2x4Gh56RAA&gid=1
Photo Album: http://picasaweb.google.com/cyclone.aid/Project5/
Map: http://www.logcluster.org/mm08a/map-centre/pyapon-township-affected-areas/
To find the villages we visited, look for Pyapon Town, and follow the eastern branch of Pyapon river.
Coordinator/Expedition Leader:
San Yu
Expedition Volunteers:
Daw Yee Yee, U Sein Tun, Ko Myo Min, Ko Nay Zaw, Ko Win Zaw, Ko Kyaw Kyaw, Aung Hein, Ah Pho Gyi, Daw Thawdar
Special Thanks:
1. Daw Yee Yee and Ko Nay Zaw who provided breakfast and snacks to the team
2. U Aye who provided the team with dinner
Background:
A local from the area contacted us and invited us to arrange for distribution of aid items. We purchased items as suggested by this local, and informed him of our trip in advance. Many of the locals live quite a distance from each other as they are farmers and each farm is an area of a few hundred acres. Hence, our contact arranged to have them gather people from 4 of the larger villages at a point for easy distribution.
In the news:
Article 1: May 09, 2008 - The Cyclone's Tiniest Victims
Article 2: May 10, 2008 - River of Death
Expedition Diary:
We purchased the items on the 30th and 31st of May, and packed them onto a light truck on the evening of 31st. In order to make it a day trip (due to lack of accommodation in the area), we left at about 3am on the 1st of June.
It took us about 6 hours on the road to reach a delta town where we purchased rice sacks. There, we loaded the boat (kindly arranged by the local contact) with supplies and set off along one of the branches of Pyapon river. It took us 1 and a half hours to reach the pre-determined distribution point. Villagers from Einyargyi, Taman, Udo, and KwinTae have been asked to gather there. If this had not been pre-arranged, it might have taken about half hour each for the team to move between small clusters of households.
We set up a small make-shift distribution center and gave out the items to the villagers who had gathered there. When it was done, we again loaded the remaining supplies onto the boat and journeyed further along the river to other villages on the river bank and distributed the rest of the supplies.
We purchased the items on the 30th and 31st of May, and packed them onto a light truck on the evening of 31st. In order to make it a day trip (due to lack of accommodation in the area), we left at about 3am on the 1st of June.
It took us about 6 hours on the road to reach a delta town where we purchased rice sacks. There, we loaded the boat (kindly arranged by the local contact) with supplies and set off along one of the branches of Pyapon river. It took us 1 and a half hours to reach the pre-determined distribution point. Villagers from Einyargyi, Taman, Udo, and KwinTae have been asked to gather there. If this had not been pre-arranged, it might have taken about half hour each for the team to move between small clusters of households.
We set up a small make-shift distribution center and gave out the items to the villagers who had gathered there. When it was done, we again loaded the remaining supplies onto the boat and journeyed further along the river to other villages on the river bank and distributed the rest of the supplies.
http://cyclone-aid.blogspot.com
This report was prepared by San Yu on 2008-06-04.