SAIS Students Aid Cyclone Nargis Victims in Burma When Cyclone Nargis swept through Burma/Myanmar in May, the village of Ma Lot, one hour by boat from the town of Bogalay, was devastated: Thirty-eight people died in this village of less than 400, everyone lost property and many were displaced. Just four months later, thanks to the determination and vision of 10 students in SAIS’s Southeast Asia Studies Program, Assistant Professor Bridget Welsh and the SAIS community’s $10,000 donation, Ma Lot is on its way to completing a new middle school—providing a gateway to higher education for local children. More than 138,000 people lost their lives as the cyclone and subsequent tidal wave destroyed villages across the Irrawaddy Delta. The damage was compounded by the diffi cult political environment that delayed the relief effort, as the regime initially rejected humanitarian assistance and aid workers. Slowly, the relief effort has expanded, and the delta has begun the long process toward recovery. A crucial component of this recovery has been nonpolitical, people-to-people initiatives, which have forged ties to communities in the Irrawaddy. The SAIS students had planned a study tour of Burma/Myanmar in late May. “After the cyclone hit, they decided to go ahead with the trip,” said Welsh, “but to redirect more of their efforts toward humanitarian relief. They appealed to the SAIS community for support and were not disappointed.” The Southeast Asia Studies Program and SAIS funded the students’ trip. SAIS alumni (especially “SAIS Siam” members, led by Phil Robertson ’97), fellow students, staff, faculty and friends responded to e-mail appeals and personal requests, donating close to $12,000. Two thousand dollars of this fund was used to buy relief supplies. Students bought the supplies in local markets, trucking nearly a ton of rice and other goods into the delta. Access proved not to be a problem, thanks to the support of SAIS alumni in Burma/Myanmar. The supplies were given to a monastery in the delta region and distributed to a thousand people from four villages. Refl ecting on his relief-effort work, student Pongsiri Vorapongse said: “This heart- warming and eyeopening trip provided me a rare opportunity to see the real Burma. The interaction I had with the Burmese people was a memorable and inspiring experience that showed me how wonderful the people are and how they live their life, filled with both frustration and hope.” The students opted to spend the majority of donated funds on education. As Welsh explains: “Schools provide a safe place for children and help create a sense of normalcy after loss, and yet more than 2,500 schools had been destroyed by the cyclone.” Working with local SAIS alumni and friends, the group identified a community in need: Ma Lot. In the last two years, the people of Ma Lot had worked to build a middle school. This school was to serve 10 villages and 768 children. Before Nargis, it was almost 70 percent built; after Nargis, it was rubble. The $10,000 contributed by the SAIS community paid for a new foundation and roof. Over the next few months, it is hoped that $6,000 can be raised to construct the walls and purchase desks. Village leaders and teachers are working together to get this building constructed quickly, with much of the labor donated. “This truly collaborative effort has already brought a sense of purpose, deeper cross-cultural understanding and hope to all concerned,” said Welsh. “It has helped anchor a community—both at SAIS and in Burma/Myanmar—toward the common goal of forging a better future.” On their trip, Welsh and her students met with representatives of humanitarian organizations and local leaders. Cambria Hamburg noted that the experience complemented her SAIS classroom education: “Our courses prepared us for the high-level meetings, such as at the U.S. Embassy. We were able to ask pointed questions about U.S. foreign policy toward Burma and about ASEAN politics.” But she added the students’ interactions with local people “brought to life some of the problems we had been discussing in Professor Welsh’s course on development issues in Southeast Asia. Seeing the problems firsthand deepened my understanding.” [return to contents] | 
