Myanmar Flood Relief Update: Bringing Hope to Kyaukse
We share this heartfelt update from our team leader, who has written on their recent experiences in Kyaukse, Myanmar, as part of our flood recovery assistance project. The journey was challenging, and they faced numerous obstacles, including muddy roads and security checkpoints, but through perseverance and dedication, they managed to bring much-needed relief to 100 affected families. This message highlights not only the practical difficulties they encountered but also the resilience and gratitude of the villagers who received the aid. We hope this account conveys the sincere efforts being made and the impact your support is having on the ground! Please take a moment to read their story and feel the connection we share with those we are helping.
How are you doing, everyone? May you all be healthy, happy, mindful, and insightful.
Recently, our team traveled to Kyaukse with our local contact nun for the flood recovery assistance project. We safely handed over the recovery supplies for 100 families to five village elders who came to receive them on behalf of the villagers, with funds provided by our international donors. At first, we planned to send the supplies directly to the village, but it rained heavily the night before. We were supposed to stop at the nun's relative's house on the way from Kyaukse to the village. Since the road was too muddy and even the Troller-G tractors couldn't come, the elders came by motorcycle with difficulty and arrived at the house where we stopped around 11:00 am. We started our journey at 6:00 am, picking up the supplies we had procured a few days earlier from suppliers around Mandalay. We continued to Kyaukse at about 9:00 am and reached the stop (the nun's relative's house) at 10:30 am. Throughout our journey from Mandalay to Kyaukse, the elders kept updating us about their delays coming from the village. They told us the water level in the Panlaung River was rising—this is the same river we crossed on the way to Kongyi village last time.
Our truck was stopped at the security checkpoint before entering Kyaukse. We were asked a lot of questions by two soldiers: where we were taking the supplies, where we came from, who donated them, what the supplies were, and so on. They also asked for the driver's name and national identification number. Luckily, we were traveling with an abbot of a monastery, and our local contact nun in our car, while another nun was in the truck's driver's compartment. We stopped our car, and the monk went out to answer the questions for the driver. Although the nun in the truck was answering for the driver, they were not happy to let us go and wanted him to unload the things from the rooftop of the truck. They wanted to unpack and see the sacks where the aluminum cooking pots were kept. When my uncle spoke to them, they finally let us go. At the same checkpoint, we also saw another monk's car and a charity ambulance carrying flood recovery supplies. Later, we heard from local people that they had increased restrictions on transporting supplies after the funeral of Dr. Zaw Myint Maung, the late Vice-Chairperson of the NLD and the ousted Chief Minister of Mandalay Region.
Eventually, we entered the city and continued towards the village as far as we could go by car. We saw the rising water level in the Zawgyi River, which flows through the city, and in the canal along which we had to drive. We stopped at the nun’s relative’s house near the western exit of the city. There, we met the village head, who is the nun's father, and other village elders. They explained that they had a fair system for distributing the supplies among the flood-hit villagers. When they received a donation for a certain number of families (not for all 700 families in the village), they kept records of who received it, and those families were not included in the next distribution. They mentioned that they had received two donations from a local donor and a charity from Mandalay for 350 families so far. Therefore, they would distribute this donation to 100 families who had not received any recovery support yet. The nun's father and his team planned to transport the supplies to the village the next day, once the road had dried. They would use a Troller-G and carry the items, so we also gave them 20,000 kyats for fuel. They said they would distribute the recovery assistance to all beneficiaries today and send us the photos soon.
[Breaking Update: As I'm writing this email, the nun has sent me photos showing the villagers smiling with happiness. Her mother spoke to me on the phone to express her gratitude and the happiness of the villagers. She told me that they were happy to receive many different supplies, including pillows, which they needed. The nun said, "They were so happy to receive these supplies. May all the donors be blissful!" Due to an unstable internet connection on her end, she will send more photos tomorrow.]
I am so glad to hear of their happiness, which reflects their true needs. Since the village is far to the west of the city and the road conditions are bad, few donors have been able to come and support their recovery. They told us about their experiences in the first few days after the flood. Although they received food and rice in those early days, they couldn’t cook because they had lost all their kitchen utensils. Some villagers who received cooking pots did not receive rice, so they had to borrow and share. One woman said that they cooked on the concrete slab roof of a neighbor’s one-story house. Our donation of pillows helped because some of theirs had been soaked with silt and mud, and even after washing them, they weren’t good anymore. Some pillows had to be shared, and many didn’t get them back. To our most generous international supporters and meditators, thank you so much for not forgetting us in our hour of need!
We met four women from the village who were staying at their relatives’ houses (where we handed over the supplies) and at another rented house. They and the village elders shared their difficult experiences. One woman lost 150 tins of rice (more than 5 metric tons), which she found submerged in the mud. She could only recover a few kilos of broken rice. Some villagers lost just their houses, while others lost their crops and farmland, and some lost both. Those living near the river didn’t have time to take anything before escaping. Many had to hold onto trees or climb the embankment of the canal. There is a human-made canal with high embankments near the village, and it saved many people from the surrounding villages. The nun's father told me that one of his cousins climbed into a granary that ended up flooding and washing away. Fortunately, he managed to grab onto some trees and was saved. The nuns said, "Our uncle was so pitiful; he is in his 70s." They also told us that the father of a young nun, just 12 years old, had died in the flood! She studies and lives in a monastery in Sagaing with the nun who traveled with us. Since she was taking an exam, they had not told her about her father yet. We felt so sorry for this young student, Ma Aye Carī, and we want to help her somehow, especially with her education.
The nun's father spoke with a voice full of sadness for the villagers who lost their lives, "We were fortunate to remain alive. Those from the upriver villages couldn’t escape and lost their lives. We from the downriver villages found their bodies. It was the worst nightmare for them and for all of us. I had never experienced such a disaster in my life." He is in his 70s now. We also met a respected teacher from the village, who thanked us and all the international donors on behalf of the villagers. He wished the donors to be free from all dangers in this life and in all future lives. He wished them to be happy and healthy. We privately informed the nun and village elders that the donation came from international donors and meditators, many of whom had visited Webu Hill in Kyaukse.
The teacher, a village elder, asked me that, when it is safe, to invite the international meditators who have helped us, to visit Kyaukse for the famous 'Kyaukse Elephant Dance Festival,' which is happening in a few days. [We saw an elephant dance club on the way back!] The city’s elephant dance clubs come from different parts of the city, perform around the town, and offer snacks and flowers at the pagodas. It’s very famous in Myanmar and celebrated only in Kyaukse. The tradition comes from King Anawrahta, who developed agriculture in the Bagan Kingdom based in the Kyaukse Plains. He used to ride an elephant and is known in history for spreading Buddhism across the country. When he wanted to build a pagoda, he placed the Buddha’s relics in a basket on the head of a white elephant and let it travel, saying, "May the noble elephant stop where the relics should be enshrined." The Sayadaw also invited the donors to come again to meditate at Webu’s sacred sites in Kyaukse when the country is peaceful. He also suggested that the donors continue practicing mindfulness in their daily lives, as the respected Webu Sayadaw taught.
May you all be blissful and attain the fruition of your donations. As the Lord Buddha said, “Sadisa Pākam Janeti,” every karma brings an equal result. May you all be free from worries and stress as the result of your good deeds. May you all be as happy as the villagers whom you supported with recovery supplies.
