As rain pours, Myanmar church teams reach out to cyclone survivors

Published: 2008-05-16

YANGON, Myanmar (CNS) -- For the teams of church volunteers from Yangon fanning out into the cyclone-devastated Irrawaddy delta, the human cost is clear. It is not just realized in the bloated dead bodies the volunteers pass on the rivers or in the fields; it is in the loss reflected in the eyes of survivors, grieving for family members as they huddle in the few large buildings left standing. The Asian church news agency UCA News reported that dozens of volunteers from the Yangon Archdiocese, Karuna Myanmar Social Services, and the newly created Myanmar Disaster Relief Committee have been visiting badly affected places to begin addressing the humanitarian disaster caused by Cyclone Nargis, which struck Myanmar May 3. Myanmar's government said May 16 that close to 77,800 people have died. The Red Cross said the toll may be as high as 128,000; the U.N. estimates more than 100,000 died. The United Nations also said 2.5 million people are in desperate need of food, water, shelter and medical care.

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