Three months after cyclone Nargis struck the Irrawaddy delta and Rangoon, Burma's largest city, the need for housing is huge.
Our partners are providing immediate shelter for thousands of people but crucially they are also planning for the next disaster by building back better.
Christian Aid enabled two engineers from a partner organisation in Burma to visit another one of our partners, CASA in India, to learn from their experiences of implementing disaster risk reduction programmes.
Preparing for the future
The aim of the trip was to see for themselves how to build community structures that could withstand cyclones and flooding and apply this to the local context in Burma.
They also wanted to learn how communities could prepare and minimise risks when disaster strikes.
Engineer Saw Maung Sein is eager to put to use what he learned from his visit to India, especially in terms of raising community awareness in the response to disasters in Burma.
Community participation
He said, ‘In 2004 I worked in the Irrawady delta after the Tsunami struck. We realised then the importance of community participation.
After Cyclone Nargis struck in May we knew more than ever that we had to make sure that we applied this principle in our response.
Very few of the Early Childhood Care and Development Centres we erected in 2005 survived this time.
After the Tsunami we did not build back with a view to preparing for future disasters as we did not expect cyclones of this magnitude to occur.'
India trip
Saw Maung Sein explained that the trip to India showed him that 'community awareness work is key' and that although the need to build shelter should be recognised, the need to build communities is equally important.
As Saw Maung Sein says ‘not even houses can replace community awareness, if lives are to be saved – people have to know what to do.
'We have also realised that disasters can hit at any time and cyclones can recur. India’s experience has clearly shown this. We need to share this knowledge with our communities here in the Irrawady delta and beyond.‘’
Mobilising people
‘By mobilising our people to be more aware and prepare themselves, they can reduce the devastating impact on their lives. As a result of the visit, I now have the confidence and the faith to take this on with our communities.
'I am grateful to CASA and Christian Aid for making the visit possible. The need for a safe place for a community is vital and we need to be ready to deal with disaster when it strikes. We will be carrying out training in early warning systems as a priority.’
‘At this stage we will focus on saving human lives but preserving livestock will form part of our planning for disasters.'
Blueprints
Daw Nu Ye, a female engineer who also travelled to India added: “We have brought back blueprints of designs which we have adapted for our local situation.
'We need to modify these designs further. The priority right now is to meet the urgent needs for building back better, both in terms of providing shelter but more importantly the spirit of community in the face of disaster.’