Burma: 2.4 million people = 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + ……+ 1 human beings

As everybody knows, the cyclone Nargis struck Burma on 2 and 3 May 2008

Current estimates suggest that 2.4 million people were affected.

1.3 million people are estimated to have been reached so far by International NGOs, the Red Cross and the UN.

Official figures as of 16 May state that 77,738 people have been killed and 55,917 remain missing.

This means that more than a million of people are still in need of shelter, food and clean drinking water…

….and are basically dying…. under our eyes….

Where are the soldiers and police? They were very quick and aggressive when there were protests in the streets last year though…

In the meantime, International NGOs are experiencing greater difficulties in entering the country; visa requests in some cases have been pending for up to three weeks. Some International NGOs report problems in accessing the affected areas, with reports of organizations being turned away at police checkpoints despite authorization and unexplained withdrawals of authorization.

When I was in Burma 1.5 years ago, I was in the region destroyed by the cyclone and met those people…. Those victims are not just anonymous numbers to me and I can prevent myself from remembering those faces…. every single day….

2.4 million people = 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + ……+ 1 human beings

And here are some of them:

Burma Pictures I

Burma Pictures II

The monks in those pictures are from Mandalay... some certainly took part in the protests of last year

Carnet de route 2

Carnet de route 4