Burma's Archbishop thanks Lichfield churches for Cyclone Nargis help

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.

"We are sending teams every two weeks to the affected area carrying fresh rice and fuel, salt and also the most important thing: the water, clean water to drink.

"We have so many things to do. Not only distributing food and medicine, not only distributing temporary houses we have to consider relocation to their villages. In some villages there are only two people left; in others five people left. But they want to go back to their places."

The Archbishop said he was struck by requests from surviving Anglicans for new churches. "I expected when I went to these areas that they would ask me: 'give us the food, give us the shelter, medicine' and so on. But the first thing that they ask me is 'Dear Bishop, please rebuild the church for us'. I was struck by that.

"I asked: 'Why do you ask for that? You need food. You need water. Why don't you ask for food and water first?'

"They just said the church was their meeting place: 'In church we can gather together and pray to God. Our major strength to continue to face our challenges come from this church, comes from God. So please re-build the church for us.'

"But I can't rebuild the churches because we are struggling to provide the most important matters for those who are affected: food, shelter and medicine."

He said the money donated by the churches of Lichfield Diocese has helped to save many lives and provide essential resources to tackle the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis.

"When we got the aid money from Lichfield and other places we brought the food, the rice. And then we rented boats and cars to carry the foods and shelter and medicine, together with medical teams."

In addition to immediate aid and support the money is also being used to aid the longer-term recovery operation: "Because of the Nargis, all the land has become salted land. We don't know if we can re-grow food because of the salt.

"But we tried to find special seeds for the farmers, the victims. We have already distributed the seeds and because of your help we brought some buffaloes and some tractors. We have already sent them and they have ploughed the feed and planted the seeds.

"We can not guarantee if they will grow or not. We have to wait for the next three months to find if it will grow or not. This is the main problem for us."

He added: "The Church of the Province of Burma heartily thank the people of Lichfield. We feel we are in the darkness. We are in the massive situation, in the dark cloud.

"But there is a saying: every cloud has a silver lining. So what is the silver lining for the Nargis cyclone people?

"You, people of Lichfield, are our friends who love us, have concern for us and give to us aid. You are our silver lining. That is why we sincerely and heartily thank the people of Lichfield. Please continue to pray for us - and that the crops we have planted will grow."

The Bishop of Lichfield, the Rt Rev Jonathan Gledhill, said: "I'd like to thank all the parishes and individuals who have contributed for this magnificent response. I am very proud of the Diocese of Lichfield. Although we are closing the emergency appeal, the need is still as strong as ever and I would urge continued generosity for the people of Burma."

The Bishop of Lichfield's Emergency Appeal for Burma will continue to accept donations until Monday 18th August.