When water recedes it leaves behind mud
The morning after the flood I woke up with the same question on my mind as everyone else, ‘how high are the flood waters’. Not living in the effected areas I had to rely on social media… I was so relieved to learn that the waters had receded in town! Overnight the water had gone from a few feet deep to not even covering the streets in the downtown area.
A boy sifts through flood waters and garbage looking for anything that might be valuable.
Unfortunately those who lived and worked along the river were not as lucky. On both the Thailand and Burma side of the river the water covered the entire first floor of the buildings next to the river. Being a large import and export border the area is surrounded by large and small businesses as well as villages. Some people received the warning that the river was going to rise and were able to evacuate, but not everyone heard about it before it was to late. Many people were stranded until the waters went down… three days later.
A man wades through flood waters looking for items that can be used to rebuild houses in ‘no-mans land’.
It’s one thing to pray for flood victims that you don’t know, but as I prayed people’s faces came to mind from my many visits across the border. After the waters receded a group of us went down to the border to pray and see the damage. I prayed for those effected by the flood, and that we would run into our contact as I really wanted to know my friends were all ok!
A woman working to clean up flood water, mud, and garbage left over from the flood near the border.
God heard my prayers, and we found Myo, our contact!! We were able to encourage him and remind him that we are praying for him and his people. Myo tried to help many people get to higher ground before the flood, unfortunately not everyone wanted to listen to him. He said that three boats that were crossing the river tipped over. At least 200 people had died in Burma due to the floods. Myo had been renting a small room right next to the border, he didn’t have much, but being an educator he had lots of books and a collection of photos and notes for an autobiography he wants to write, he lost everything. Our time was short with Myo as it was late. We asked him what were the greatest needs at the moment… he said that temporary refugee camps had formed at four different monastaries so people had somewhere to stay and a bit of food, but they needed medicine.
Some of the clean up after the flood in the market area received immediate attention by the government.
The same night I went to the pharmacy to pick up the medicine that Myo said the people needed. The pharmacist was wonderful in helping me find the best options to purchase, and told me if I could stop at a clinic in the morning she would like to make a donation. So on my way to the border the next morning I stopped at the clinic and was given two bags full of medication! She more than tripled what I had purchased!! A friend and I travelled to the border to meet Myo, he was blown away by the amount of medicine and supplies we brought him. As he looked through what we brought he almost came to tears over the small bottles of baby powder in one of the bags. Myo was so excited to be able to get medicine to the people who needed it. (He was able to give some directly to people he knew needed it, and then hand the rest over to a doctor who was also staying at a monstary.)
Myo taking the medicine and other supplies that we purchased into Burma to share with flood victims.
Those living in villages or not on the main road are still struggling with the cleanup from the flood. Not only did the flood waters do LOTS of damage, but they left behind several inches of a clay like mud on and in everything. I watched antique shops have to take every item out of their shop and use buckets of water and paintbrushes or toothbrushes to clean their wooden merchandise. The amazing thing is that it didn’t take long for many of the shops to open back up.
The view across the river at Burma. Note the entire wall that is missing from one of the buildings due to the flood.
A few days ago we got to meet up with Myo once again. He again was beaming over what we able to donate. Myo let us know that all of our friends in the villages were untouched by the floods! All of the people who had been staying at the different refuge camps had gone home or found somewhere else to stay. As Myo said, ‘things keep happening to my people, but we are survivors, we keep on going.’ I asked if people still needed anything and he told me, ‘ we don’t need food or anything, we just need love’.
Please continue to pray for the people of Thailand and Burma who were effected by the flooding. Pray for the businesses and economy (many people in Burma lost their jobs because businesses couldn’t stay open). Rainy season is almost over, but the flood was the worst they’ve had in over 10 years.
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