Caritas Helping in Myanmar

YANGON, Myanmar, MAY 5, 2008 (Zenit.org)
- The aid agency Caritas Internationalis is at work in Myanmar, where the death toll is nearing 4,000 after Saturday's pounding from Tropical Cyclone Nargis.

Caritas is coordinating relief efforts for its 162 national members and working with staff in the region. But they said communications to Myanmar have been severely affected and a clear picture of the devastation is yet to emerge.

Caritas Internationalis Emergency Response Team Leader Dolores Halpin-Bachmann said, "There is an urgent need for access to aid workers to the affected areas so that we can assess the damage, start to provide food, shelter, clean water and medical assistance.

"We've only been receiving sketchy reports, but they're enough to make us concerned about the humanitarian situation. Nagris hit a major city with a population of 5 million people. In that environment, we know how important it is for people to get access to clean water to stop the spread of disease.

"Caritas knows from experience that the first few days are crucial to saving lives. Following the Asia Tsunami in 2004, hundreds of thousands of lives were saved because of the rapid and effective response of the humanitarian community in the early phase of the emergency. The government must do all it can to help aid workers respond."

The death toll could reach 10,000 as there are still thousands of people unaccounted for./