The Primate of the Anglican Province of Myanmar, the Most Rev Stephen Than Myot Oo, has thanked the churches of Lichfield Diocese for their prayers and generosity after his country was hit by Cyclone Nargis earlier this year.
He made his comments as it was announced that the Bishop of Lichfield's emergency appeal for Burma, which was launched with the support by the Bishops of Shrewsbury, Stafford and Wolverhampton in the immediate aftermath of the cyclone, is to be closed. The emergency appeal has raised £35,000 from churches and Christians in the Lichfield Diocese and this has been sent in regular intervals to the church in Myanmar through the agency USPG: Anglicans in World Mission.
The cyclone is estimated to have claimed the lives of 100,000 people and Archbishop Stephen, visiting Britain for the Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops in Canterbury, said the support from the Diocese of Lichfield was invaluable in saving many lives.
He said: "When the Nargis came it was very strong wind, not only wind, but many high tides came into the affected area.
"The wind was very strong and nobody could stand up in their houses so they ran away to other places. But at the same time the water tides came in. At first it was quite slow, but later the waves came in very fast.
"The Nargis struck at around eight o'clock at night when it was dark and people could not find the way to run, so many people climbed up the nearest trees. But the wind was so strong that even coconut trees were bending up to 70 degrees.
"Many people climbed up but the wind was very strong and they were thrown from the trees. But even so, most of the people did not die from the wind, they died by the waves.
"The waves, up to 20 or 25 feet high, came several times. The waves came in and drew many people out; came back and drew many people out, and it carried on for 12 hours in the dark.
"That's why so many children and old people died. They were not strong enough to hold onto the trees."
The Archbishop recalled one story - typical of the situation in the country - of one family of eight who climbed a tree. By the morning only the father was left and despite searching could find no trace of his family.
Such devastating accounts highlight the nature of the trauma being endured by the survivors.
The Church of the Anglican Province of Myanmar was already involved in development work in the area - and its agricultural work was already the subject of this year's Bishop of Lichfield's Lent Appeal.
Within a week of Nargis hitting the Church had completed a survey of the affected area and had organised high-level disaster committee to oversee the work of dedicated teams dealing with emergency relief, health, and food and water.
Archbishop Stephen said: "The first relief team to reach the very narrow and remote area hit by the Nargis was the Province of Burma relief team. And up to now it is still the major organisation or relief team in the affected area.
