VZCZCXRO5910
OO RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH RUEHTRO
DE RUEHGO #0783/01 2750905
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 010905Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY RANGOON
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8249
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 1562
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 5046
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 8644
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 6213
RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI 1871
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 4066
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2031
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 RANGOON 000783 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/MLS, DRL, AND IO 
PACOM FOR FPA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/24/2018 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM BM
SUBJECT: MAKING ENDS MEET IN THE DELTA 
 
RANGOON 00000783  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
Classified By: P/E Chief Jennifer Harhigh for Reasons 1.4 (b) & (d) 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (C)  CDA and Embassy officers visited Kyone Hla and San 
Khan Chaung villages in Labutta Township in Burma's 
cyclone-affected Irrawaddy delta September 23.  Beneficiaries 
of agricultural livelihood projects being implemented by 
International Development Enterprises (IDE) and funded by 
USAID/OFDA expressed gratitude for USG assistance and urged 
more.  The villagers described in detail their experiences 
during the cyclone and their struggles to survive in the 
aftermath.  They reported that they have finished planting 
the monsoon season rice crop (which they expect to harvest in 
December) and that they are surviving largely on humanitarian 
rations supplemented by locally-caught seafood, and when 
necessary leftover rotten rice from the previous year's crop. 
 We observed rice growing in the villages, as well as rebuilt 
thatch houses and temporary schools.  Despite further 
endangering those living a hand-to-mouth existence, Nargis 
may be leading to improved local networking and increased 
access to outside information.  In comment, we note that 
prospects for continued, even expanded donor assistance are 
unclear.  Some regime ministers seem favorably disposed; 
Senior General Than Shwe reportedly has no such intention. 
End summary. 
 
Painful memories of Nargis persist 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (C)  CDA and Embassy officers traveled by WFP helicopter 
and local boat to San Khan Chaung and Kyone Hla villages 
September 23.  We observed agricultural livelihood projects 
being implemented by IDE-Myanmar, an NGO implementing a USD 
3.9 million grant from USAID/OFDA for agriculture, 
livelihoods and market recovery activities in the Irrawaddy 
Delta.  IDE Country Director Debbie Aung Din Taylor told us 
IDE chose to work with the "second band" of Nargis survivors, 
i.e. those in areas that have a decent chance of recovery 
with agricultural assistance, vice the villages closer to the 
ocean where full recovery may not ever be possible. 
 
¶3.  (C)  In San Khan Chaung, which has approximately 84 
families (total population of 360),villagers told us that 32 
people had died and all but three houses had been damaged or 
destroyed.  Only six bodies have been recovered.  In Kyone 
Hla, with 142 families (total population of 500-600), 68 
villagers perished.  In both villages, nearly all of the 
houses, the schools and the monasteries had been destroyed or 
severely damaged. 
 
¶4.  (C)  In San Khan Chaung, a fifty-year-old village, 
residents told us they were warned of the approaching storm 
via radio four days in advance but had never experienced a 
cyclone before and thus did not know what to do to prepare. 
Survivors recounted how during the height of the cyclone they 
had clung to trees in pitch dark from 8 p.m. until 3 p.m. 
until the storm surge receded. 
 
¶5.  (C)  When we asked what they were doing to prepare for 
future such storms, they replied that they were doing nothing 
other than stocking water containers to use as flotation 
devices and buying more radios in order to listen to weather 
forecasts.  (Note:  We were told that when rumors surfaced of 
another impending storm last week, village residents from 
several villages flocked to Labutta town to seek shelter. 
End note.)  The villagers said it had taken the government 
4-5 days to arrive at the village post-cyclone and they 
acknowledged receiving rice from the government.  In the 
interim, they survived by eating wet (and often rotten) rice 
they managed to salvage from the previous year's harvest. 
 
A precarious existence at best 
------------------------------ 
 
¶6.  (C)  Existence in both villages was precarious to begin 
 
RANGOON 00000783  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
with and has been further compounded by Nargis.  Well over 50 
percent of villagers, maybe even 70 percent, were landless 
before the storm and had struggled to find work as day 
laborers or doing odd jobs.  They had particular trouble 
finding work during the dry season.  One woman who works as 
the village seamstress, noted that business is extremely slow 
and she could not earn enough to support her family.  Access 
to capital is severely constrained and, with high interest 
rates from local lenders (10-12 percent per month, 
compounded), many villagers are saddled with inescapable 
debt. 
 
¶7.  (C)  Both villages we visited plant only one rice crop 
per year, during the monsoon season.  Villagers told us they 
have managed to plant this year's post-cyclone, monsoon rice 
crop successfully.  The salt had drained out of the soil. 
Farmers lost most of their draft animals in the storm, and 
the government has not provided replacement livestock. 
Twenty-four farmers planted the monsoon crop in one village's 
611 acres of rice paddy using the remaining 40 head of cattle 
and donated power tillers, five provided by the GOB and one 
by IDE.  When asked, they said the GOB tillers required 
frequent repair.  We did observe healthy-looking rice paddies 
in the areas we visited. 
 
Despite poor diet, health concerns limited 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶8.  (C)  When asked about diet, villagers in San Khan Chaung 
said they had received food rations including rice, oil and 
salt from WFP but the rations have been inconsistent. 
Because the rations alone are insufficient, people have 
supplemented their diet with damaged rice.  Village women 
told us in both villages that twice daily meals of rice 
include locally-caught fish or shrimp 2-3 times per week. 
Children are being fed rice and palm sugar. 
 
¶9.  (C)  According to the villagers, health concerns always 
include malaria and the flu but there have been no major 
outbreaks of disease.  Both villages reported international 
health NGOs including Doctors Without Borders (Holland) and 
Merlin visit regularly. 
 
School's back in session 
------------------------ 
 
¶10.  (C)  The houses we observed have all been rebuilt, often 
from salvaged scraps of wood and palm fronds.  Efforts are 
also underway to rebuild monasteries and other structures 
that were destroyed or severely damaged by the storm and its 
accompanying wave.  We observed the crumbled brick-and-mortar 
remains of San Khan Chaung's village school and visited a 
makeshift school in a rebuilt house nearby.  Nearly 100 
students, ranging in age from 5-10 sat closely together on 
mats and took notes in UNICEF-donated notebooks on UNICEF and 
GOB texts.  The school appeared well-organized and its two 
uniformed teachers appeared professional.  When we asked 
students if they were still frightened by storms, they yelled 
out "we're scared" in unison immediately. 
 
¶11.  (C)  In Kyone Hla, where the school was also destroyed, 
students were attending school in UNICEF-donated tents, 
although villagers observed that the students have to take 
frequent breaks because the donated tarps are extremely hot, 
not conducive to the tropics.  Students start the school day 
at 10 a.m. after helping their families with field work and 
chores. 
 
The silver lining... 
-------------------- 
 
¶12.  (C)  Although we lack a baseline for comparison, it 
appears Nargis has forced villagers to organize in new ways, 
creating a wider base for civil society.  For example, power 
tiller committees in both villages must make transparent and 
fair decisions as to which families use the donated tillers 
on which days.  In another positive development, Nargis 
 
RANGOON 00000783  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
inadvertently has prompted villagers to seek outside news and 
information.  In Kyone Hla village, we were told 80 percent 
of residents now have radios in their homes versus 40 percent 
previously.  This is not due to donations.  Villagers are 
buying radios themselves in order to hear weather forecasts. 
When we asked what they listed to, villagers listed Voice of 
America and Radio Free Asia, among other stations. 
 
Despite minders, villagers spoke frankly 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶13.  (C)  Although we were granted full access to visit both 
villages and were never asked to show identification or our 
travel permission letter, Burma Police Special Branch 
officers observed our meetings with villagers.  We did not 
notice an obvious minder in San Khan Chaung village but 
discovered later through MFA contacts that SB had 
(incorrectly) reported we were disparaging the GOB's 
constitutional referendum while asking questions about 
ability to vote.  During our session with villagers in Kyone 
Hla, the Special Branch 'guest' was more obvious, noticeably 
better dressed and with a digital camera.  Despite our 
apparent minders, villagers replied frankly to our questions, 
although the conversation in San Khan Chaung seemed more 
uninhibited.  A villager in Kyone Hla mentioned afterward on 
the walk to the helicopter that conversation there would have 
been more uninhibited if SB had been absent. 
 
¶14.  (C)  Villagers in both places are clearly concerned with 
basic survival rather than political matters.  They seemed 
genuinely confused when we attempted to ask if they had voted 
in May's referendum, although they later claimed to have 
voted in a nearby town. In both villages the men initially 
sat up front and did the talking; but when it came to matters 
of family diet and livelihoods, women quickly shuffled 
forward to share their views.  Villagers told us their 
impression of the U.S. is that of a rich and powerful 
country.  They thanked us profusely for USG and other donor 
assistance and said they would welcome more. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶15.  (C)  It is no surprise that, four months after Cyclone 
Nargis, memories are still fresh for residents of Kyone Hla, 
San Khan Chaung and numerous other villages in the delta.  An 
already precarious existence was made even worse when Nargis 
surged through, taking lives and destroying livelihoods. 
Humanitarian needs in the delta remain staggering. 
Country-wide, Burma's people face tremendous vulnerabilities. 
 A saving grace is that the Burmese people are incredibly 
resilient. In addition, villagers have demonstrated the 
ability to band together in a variety of informal mechanisms 
in order to survive.  Donor assistance, even in the basic 
"relief" phase in the delta, is tapping into and encouraging 
organizational skills which should build capacity for a 
brighter future. 
 
¶16.  (C)  An open question is how much scope the current 
regime in Nay Pyi Taw will allow for donor activity once the 
"relief" phase is over in the delta, and whether the regime 
will allow any opening to extend more broadly throughout 
Burma.  Reportedly some ministers who have been able to 
observe the benefits of donor activity directly are signaling 
interest in having such activity continue and even expand. 
On the other hand, a diplomat presenting credentials last 
week to Senior General Than Shwe told us when he asked about 
continuing prospects for donor assistance relating to Nargis, 
the response was curt: that the relief phase has ended and 
Burma was moving on. 
DINGER