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The lone house to survive in the village of Chit Tea Kone during Cyclone Nargis provided a safe haven for villagers with nowhere else to go. photo © UNDP

With 120 mile-per-hour winds lashing the village of Chit Tea Kone in Baing Daunt Chaung village tract outside of Labutta township, a small glimmer of hope remained for many distraught villagers unwittingly caught up in the devastation of Cyclone Nargis on 2-3 May this year.

Labutta township was one the most severely affected areas in Myanmar’s hardest-hit Ayeyarwady delta region, with massive destruction across most of the surrounding villages.  Almost every single house in Chit Tea Kone was destroyed during the vicious storm… every house, that is, except one.

Rice farmer U Aye Ngwe built his home eight years ago to house himself, his wife Tint Win and four children.  During the cyclone, U Aye Ngwe’s house also provided a safe haven for a further 80 desperate villagers with nowhere else to go.

“My house was the biggest and strongest in the village”, U Aye Ngwe said.

“(Palm) trees fell onto part of my house during the storm, but we still had room, so we let as many people in as we could,” he added.

Chit Tea Kone village had a pre-cyclone population of 250 and following the utter devastation caused by Nargis, most villagers were moved to temporary camps in Labutta township.

During assessments undertaken post-cyclone, UNDP Myanmar identified Chit Tea Kone as one of the most vulnerable villages in need of urgent assistance. In July, it was one of 250 villages to receive support through the UNDP’s Livelihoods Support and Community Infrastructure (Basic Services Package (BSP)), the first installment of UNDP’s dedicated Integrated Community-based Early Recovery Framework (ICERF).

UNDP Early Recovery Manager from Labutta Township, Koorosh Raffii said that UNDP assistance continues in Labutta and the surrounding villages and to date has included support for community works and towards the necessities needed to rebuild the lives of the people of Chit Tea Kone.

“Grants have been provided to the people of Chit Tea Kone for shelter, as well as support to the most vulnerable households and to small farmers, and to families who earn their livelihoods through fishing,” Mr Raffii explained.

“UNDP also provided ‘in-kind’ support to farmers in the form of one power tiller, fertilizers and sprayers with pesticide.  

“We have also assisted with aid toward village clean-up, pond cleaning, fishing boats and nets, as well as farm tools and local and high yield seed to help farmers crop during the brief window ahead of the monsoon season that occurred not long after the cyclone hit,” he said.

In Chit Tea Kone alone, UNDP has helped to deliver assistance towards fishing boats and nets to aid 36 villagers, with the same number benefiting from the delivery of farming tools and sprayers.  Funding was also delivered to assist towards fuel (diesel) to help run their tillers and UNDP also facilitated the delivery of complementary Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) assistance, in the form of various fertilizers and insecticides.

In Labutta township, UNDP identified 70 priority villages to deliver immediate assistance during Phase I of the BSP, with more than 100 further villages now identified for most vulnerable household, shelter and community works assistance in the upcoming Phase II.

Forty-six households have been reconstructed in Chit Tea Kone village, using UNDP delivered nails and shelter materials, helping to house a population of 151.  Rice farming and fishing remain the major sources of income to the village.

Chit Tea Kone has now been almost completely rebuilt, with ongoing assistance from UNDP Myanmar. Still, U Aye Ngwe’s house stands, tilted and scarred, as a constant reminder, not only of the destruction that occurred, but also of the solace it provided to so many.