Two weeks after Cyclone Nargis hit the Irrawaddy delta on May 2-3, aid convoys from Rangoon continued to reach Kawhmu and Kungyangone, two relatively accessible townships located southwest of the former capital.
On Sunday, light trucks and even luxury cars were seen transporting food and other necessities, including cooking utensils and clothing, to the two townships, which were among hundreds of small communities hit by the cyclone. The vehicles first passed through Hlaing Tharyar Township, in one of the hardest-hit parts of Rangoon.
Aid to the area has continued, even as authorities have stepped up efforts to regulate the flow of private donations to cyclone victims.
Survivors of the cyclone lined the road to Kungyangone, as volunteers riding in the aid convoys threw light snacks into the air or passed them to people in the crowds.
Most relief supplies, however, were unloaded at monasteries, where monks supervised their distribution to cyclone victims. At one monastery, young monks told aid recipients to form a line, while signboards along the road informed donors of the presence of relief camps, where they were urged to make their donations “systematically.”
Several dozen cyclone victims were taking shelter in blue, German-made tents along the roadside near Kawhmu, while in a football ground near a gate marking the entrance to the town of Kungyangone, armed soldiers guarded a relief camp consisting of around 40 deep-green military-issue tents.
Thousands of other cyclone victims found temporary housing in local monasteries and state schools in Kungyangone, where the need for aid exceeded available supplies.
“I received a small amount of rice and edible oil,” said one victim sheltering at a monastery. “Maybe I will get some clothes from the lottery,” she added, referring to the system used to allocate scarce aid evenly among needy would-be recipients.
Local donors said they were avoiding government-led relief efforts, as they didn’t trust the authorities to distribute aid to cyclone survivors.
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