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'The future is dark and gloomy'
14/05/2008 14:04 - (SA)
Kyaktan, Myanmar - Taye Win should have died in the Myanmar cyclone. A giant tree was uprooted and smashed into her house, barely missing her and her husband and two children.
Lucky once, she fears she may not be lucky a second time. Her family now has little to eat, and the latest rains are pouring through the plastic sheet that serves as her "roof" in a makeshift shelter at a local monastery.
This is the story of her survival, as she recounted it to AFP:
The wind in the cyclone was strong and it was raining heavily. But the scariest thing was the noise. It was so loud - it sounded like a giant airplane engine, flying directly over our heads. Buzzing, buzzing.
Our house was only bamboo and leaves. It started to shake. And we all began to cry. We didn't know what would happen. And then smash!
Nothing to eat
A big tree crashed through one side of the house. The wind had picked it up and just thrown it right into our home. But we had been sitting in one corner together, on the other side.
So we knew we had to get out of there. The house was demolished.
We ran across a rice paddy, all four of us holding hands. We could hardly see anything, because there was so much wind and rain.
But you can see at this monastery, it has been damaged too. Until our house can be rebuilt, we have to stay in this little shed. There are 15 people, a dog and chickens.
For two days, we've had nothing to eat except some rice and salt. There's no clean water. The village headman brought us three packets of rice and some potatoes, but it's not enough.
I'm worried for my children. My six-year-old has a fever now. We need a plastic sheet to cover the roof. These new rains are bringing us more misery.
I don't know how long we can withstand this.
I'm so sad. The future is dark and gloomy.
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