Pray for the Burmese Children

(pictures: International Herald Tribune, The New York Times)

According to a recently published UN report, children in Myanmar may have to attend classes in relief camps and tents because 85 percent of school buildings were destroyed or severely damaged in the country's cyclone-ravaged region.

The new school term starts around June 1 and UNICEF says there is no time to rebuild the estimated 2,700 severely damaged primary schools used by 350,000 students or to replace the unknown numbers of teachers killed or missing following Cyclone Nargis, which left more than 66,000 people dead or missing.

Children are the major victims of this terrible disaster. Burmese children have been through a terrible tragedy and trauma. According to the regional head of Save the Children, more than 30,000 children in the delta area are at extreme risk of chronic malnutrition, disease and abuse. Thousands of malnourished children in the delta area now risk death if they do not get food in the next two weeks.

Children also face the risk of sexual abuse and being kidnapped and forced to work as laborers or prostitutes, particularly children separated from their parents. UNICEF estimates, in delta area, there are more than 2,000 children separated from their families.

Burmese charities supported by Christian Aid have already discovered children and the elderly dying in villages in the Irrawaddy delta that have received no aid, or help to provide clean water, 15 days into the tragedy.

A Christian Aid worker in Rangoon said that the Burmese authorities are allowing a local partner organization to distribute water and water purification tablets.

(More stories)

http://www.bangkokpost.com/topstories/topstories.php?id=127865

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/05/27/africa/28myanmar.php

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/28/world/asia/28delta.html

Burmese villagers had little, and lost it all
International Herald Tribune International Herald Tribune
Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Sitting dejectedly in a hut surrounded by the debris and stench that are the aftermath of the powerful cyclone that struck here three weeks ago, Then Khin, 70, reflected on the grim task of rebuilding what is left of her family and their home.

Since Cyclone Nargis devastated the area May 3, this isolated village in the Irrawaddy Delta has been all but ignored. As of this past weekend, it had yet to be reached by international relief workers.

Then Khin lost 15 family members when Nargis swept through. For those in the family who survived, life is a litany of woes and the recovery has only just begun. (read more)

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/05/26/asia/delta.php

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/search/page.news.php?clid=4&id=30073410