'We Have Nothing Else but Hope'
An aid worker reports from Myanmar on the lingering aftermath of Cyclone Nargis.
MYANMAR, May 19, 2008 — -- More than two weeks after a devastating cyclone hit Myanmar, the military government said today it would let medical teams from 10 Asian countries into the ravaged country.
The decision came after an emergency meeting of foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Singapore.
It was a significant concession for the junta, which has been slammed for refusing outside help for the millions of victims.
The development came on the same day the government called for a three-day mourning period for victims of Cyclone Nargis, which left an estimated 130,000 dead or missing after coming ashore May 2.
Tons of supplies are sitting offshore on a flotilla of ships from the United States, France and Great Britain, but the government has refused to let the cargo come ashore.
The country, however, is also considering a plan proposed this weekend that would allow tons of relief supplies from Western nations to be brought into the country.
Meanwhile, news from inside the suffering country is still hard to come by.
The following report was written for ABC News by one of the few aid workers inside Myanmar. For safety reasons, ABC News cannot identify the worker by name.
I am home now. It was a successful trip in terms of achieving what I set out to do, but it was heartbreaking and infuriating to witness the incompetence and unwillingness of the Myanmar government to help the victims.
I have gone into the edge of the delta twice; once myself with my relatives and once with my friends to whom I have given $2,000 plus $3,000 on the way. I have given $1,000 to another group. I must have spent about $1,000 buying food and medicine, giving cash to the camps and to people and on transportation costs.
During my first trip, I stopped at three camps: one at a meditation center, one at a church and one at a monastery. They are in different villages in a town in Yangon Division near the delta.
No one died in these towns during the cyclone but two people died afterward from pneumonia and four are still missing.
Houses were destroyed but most people have managed to rebuild their huts without any help. However, people who stayed at the camps lived out in the paddy fields where water has still not subsided enough for them to rebuild their houses.
Although most people will be able to rebuild their huts in the paddy fields once the water is gone, they will need some form of roof.
When we were there, they still hadn't received any help from the government. This was eight days after the cyclone. People from the villages were feeding the victims.
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