Earthquake in Myanmar: "I saw my neighbors under the rubble"

The epicenter of the earthquake on 28 March was in Myanmar, near Mandalay. The city was hit hard. Daw Soe Soe, her husband and seven children had a multi-storey house in the city. The earthquake made their house uninhabitable. It is still standing, but the risk of collapse is too great for them to return.

Shelter in a nearby monastery
During the quake, she and her family fled to the grounds of a nearby monastery. They still sleep there on mats that they are allowed to borrow from the monks. She tearfully recounts the moment when the earthquake shook her town.

"It all happened so quickly. We immediately ran outside to get to safety. My son was still asleep and I was cooking when it happened. Luckily we all survived."

People buried under rubble
She is aware that it could have ended very differently. "I saw about seventeen people disappear before my eyes under the rubble of the collapsing houses. They were celebrating a birthday party. Even as we walked across the street, we saw houses collapsing. People were trapped under the rubble and we couldn't help them. It was a terrible feeling."

Her own house hasn't collapsed, but that doesn't mean she can return. "It's too dangerous. The houses here are built very close together. The chance of our house collapsing anyway is still very high."

Dependent on others
As she is unable to return to her home and couldn't take anything with her when she had to leave, she doesn't know how to rebuild her life. This affects Daw deeply.

"We have always looked after ourselves and now we are dependent on help. I can't cook for my family and we don't dare go out on the street yet."

She continues: "Fortunately, food parcels are delivered from time to time. Our neighbors also received an extra package, which they shared with us. I don't eat it myself because I want my children to have enough to eat. We have to rebuild our lives from scratch."

Uncertainty among the population
Daw's concerns are shared by thousands of her fellow citizens, says Yasmijn de Boer, who works for our locally based partner organization in Myanmar.

"The need for shelter, clean drinking water and financial support in Myanmar is enormous. The scale of the disaster is huge and uncertainty among the population continues to grow. People do not know whether they can safely return to their homes and how they will survive the coming days."

The earthquake comes on top of the suffering that many people in Myanmar were already experiencing. A lot of violence and a severe economic crisis mean that people in Myanmar have almost nothing to survive on.

ena helps in Myanmar
ena is helping in the affected area in various ways. For example, we are supporting 3330 particularly affected families so that they can purchase essential goods such as food, hygiene products and bedding independently. This aid gives people a degree of independence and dignity in the midst of the crisis. We also distribute tents, mosquito nets and other materials to people who do not have safe accommodation. We also try to repair houses. We check which houses can still be saved and provide materials and technical assistance. In this way, we give people a new perspective for the future.

You can find out more about our aid here: Emergency aid in Myanmar.