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RedR engineer returns from successful mission to Myanmar

15 July 2008

RedR engineer returns from successful mission to Myanmar

Long-standing RedR member and engineer Paul Jawor returned at the end of last month from a four-week mission to Myanmar (Burma), where he assisted with relief efforts following the devastating cyclone Nargis which struck the country on 2 May. Despite the difficulties of many humanitarian workers to gain access to the Delta region, Paul managed to get a position to work for medical aid agency Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) as a water and sanitation specialist.

The main focus of Paul’s work was to provide the villages in the region with food, sanitation and a clean water supply. Working in an area close to Labutta called Hangyi, he discovered, upon arrival, hundreds of people with no access to a clean water source. People had moved back to the villages two weeks after the cyclone, despite often having no home to go to. Whole villages had been wiped out and, in one case, 800 villagers had been killed in one go. In other villages half the population had been lost.

“Many of the challenges in Myanmar were similar to those of relief efforts following the Asian tsunami”, comments Paul: “wells had become polluted and filled with sea water, and many of the crops in the fields and houses themselves had been completely washed away”. Myanmar also posed additional challenges due to the lack of resources and poor infrastructure.

Saving and rebuilding lives

Paul worked alongside another expat to manage the food distribution, medical and water and sanitation teams. A lot of the time, the teams lived together on rice-barges and smaller boats which meant they were able to access the areas they were most needed in and move around from village to village. They distributed up to 600 bags of rice a day as well as beans and cooking oil, and initially also distributed clean water. The teams worked closely with the local people and when they left donated water pumps, and trained people in each village how to use them, enabling the villages to be better prepared for future cyclones.

In the 30 days they were there, Paul and his team managed to pump out 400 wells, cleaned numerous ponds and came up with initiatives for the collection of rainwater to act as a drinking water source. “Using plastic sheeting, we devised a method of guttering, which enabled rain water to be collected” says Paul. “We also created what resembled swimming pools as a way to maximise the amount of water that could be collected. These were 30m long by 3m wide and could hold 8m³ water.”

Now Paul is safely back in Hampshire, working as a highways engineer. However, having worked in most of the world’s dangerous and difficult places, including: Afghanistan, Iraq, Angola, Albania/Kosovo, it's only a matter of time before Paul heads out again into the field.

Ends

Notes to the editor:

Interviews with Paul Jawor and photos are available upon request.

RedR is the leading training and recruitment charity for disaster relief. We provide training, consultancy and support to humanitarian agencies and their staff all over the world, increasing their effectiveness in the field. RedR ensures that skilled professionals are always available to respond when disasters occur, through the introduction of new humanitarian workers into the sector and the placement of experienced humanitarian workers.

Please visit our website at: www.redr.org.uk

Press Contact Details:
Sarah Milnes
Communications Manager
1 Great George Street, London SW1P 3AA
+44 (0) 20 7233 3116
sarah.milnes@redr.org

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