OAK-KYIUT, Myanmar — The boat’s owner points to a palm-covered bend in the river where dozens of bamboo huts perched on spindly stilts — until Cyclone Nargis devastated this region a year ago.
Nature has concealed the scars in the Irrawaddy Delta, where most of the more than 138,000 victims drowned when the storm roared through during the night last May 2. But tens of thousands of survivors still struggle to live.
Many lack clean drinking water. Rice fields remain bare, even as food handouts wind down. More than 2,000 schools have reopened, but some are short of teachers. A half million people live in rudimentary shelters.
International relief agencies have embarked on a three-year recovery plan, but response to a global appeal for $691 million in funding has been slow, the groups say.
"Finding that money to help get people back on their feet is the biggest challenge that we face at the moment,” said Andrew Kirkwood, the country director of Save the Children Fund.
The World Food Program initially provided food for more than 1 million cyclone survivors. The number of recipients has fallen to 250,000.
by the associated press
Nature has concealed the scars in the Irrawaddy Delta, where most of the more than 138,000 victims drowned when the storm roared through during the night last May 2. But tens of thousands of survivors still struggle to live.
Many lack clean drinking water. Rice fields remain bare, even as food handouts wind down. More than 2,000 schools have reopened, but some are short of teachers. A half million people live in rudimentary shelters.
International relief agencies have embarked on a three-year recovery plan, but response to a global appeal for $691 million in funding has been slow, the groups say.
"Finding that money to help get people back on their feet is the biggest challenge that we face at the moment,” said Andrew Kirkwood, the country director of Save the Children Fund.
The World Food Program initially provided food for more than 1 million cyclone survivors. The number of recipients has fallen to 250,000.
by the associated press
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