The Washington Post: Burma's Storm Survivors Cobble Together a Meager Future

Via the U.S. Campaign for Burma: the Washington Post's Foreign Service reports on reconstruction and relief efforts in and around Bogalay, Burma. Here's the lead:Two months after a cyclone savaged the fertile Irrawaddy Delta, in Burma's southwest, the bones of drowning victims still clutter the muddy banks of waterways.One bamboo stick at a time, survivors in hundreds of flattened villages are struggling to rebuild their lives. For shelter, they squeeze several families into a single tent. For drinking water, they collect monsoon rains that trickle off tarpaulin roof coverings into buckets or salvaged ceramic vases. For food, they cook communal meals with rice, beans and oil from handouts. Sometimes it is spoiled.On a recent visit, one village looked as if it had been carpet-bombed, a cratered landscape of muddy pools, debris... [read full story]