MYANMAR (BURMA) (ANS) -- More than two weeks after Myanmar’s Irrawaddy Delta was smashed by Cyclone Nargis the stories of those whose lives have been torn apart still surface as relief teams reach communities.

Tearfund, a leading UK Christian relief and development agency, committed to tackling the causes of poverty in many of the poorest countries around the world, and its partner agencies are working day and night to get relief aid to thousands of the desperate survivors of Cyclone Nargis.

Homes destroyed by Cyclone Nargis. Photo Credit: Htein Win

"The roof was flapping and then it opened up like a tin can," one woman told a relief team in the Insein Township.

"Water was coming in and everything was floating. The nearby stream had risen four feet to reach the house… the water came up to my chest …my neighbor’s house collapsed and was completely destroyed. We have no water as our tank is full of dirty stream water."

An aid worker spoke of one family who narrowly missed being crushed as their house collapsed. "They had no place to run and they were afraid to go out from their house. The wind blew through their house with great force and dislocated everything."

While the Myanmar regime says the relief phase is over, Tearfund and other Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) agencies know that it’s anything but, according to a media release. Relief agencies say they are able to get aid in, but the task is huge. The death toll is reported to be over 125,000 and the UN has put the number affected and at risk at over two million.

"The situation is desperate for so many people," says Sudarshan Sathianathan, Tearfund’s Head of Asia Region.

"The relief effort alone will take months and to rebuild lives

Children wait in line for relief aid. Photo Credit: Htein Win

and communities here seems a daunting development challenge. We have church volunteers that have themselves been hard hit and yet our partner staff have been able to mobilize them to help those worse affected. Teams are reaching the homeless with shelter materials and clothing. Food is feeding the hungry and our partner medical teams are treating many of the sick and injured. But much more aid is needed for a crisis like this -- on a tsunami scale."

Tearfund says it is funding two of its partners in Myanmar’s worst affected areas. Together they are helping some 55,000 people affected by the cyclone. All have lost relatives and friends, even entire families -- as well as homes and in many cases all their possessions. As partner relief teams respond to the life-threatening emergency needs in the worst affected areas they are faced with broken communities.

A Tearfund partner volunteer tells of his visit to one village some four hours drive from Rangoon.

"When we arrived we could see that most houses had been damaged and many had been laid flat. The destruction was evident… we could see that the wind had been overwhelming. We visited a church in that town that had been so badly damaged that only the frame was left standing. We met an elderly lady there who was very distressed. She said she had lost everything and there was only God for support now."

Carrying a much-needed sack of rice. Photo credit: Htein Win

While Tearfund partner teams have been able to get supplies to some of the worse affected areas -- providing food, water purification and medical aid to treat the sick and injured – the scale of need is immense. "It is vital that we are able to continue to support our partners in Myanmar," adds Sudarshan.

"Conditions are very difficult, people are desperate, but even in the midst of awful circumstances we are helping them. We are so grateful for the generous donations from supporters. It’s this kindness confronting disaster and affliction that has enabled us to carry out the work, bringing relief now and in the longer term as communities will need our ongoing help to recover from this disaster."

Tearfund is working with partner agency, World Concern in Yangon and Ayerayawaddy affected regions. Money raised in the appeal is funding the provision of: food (80 tons of rice in the first week, beans, oil, salt, fish and noodles); shelter materials (plastic sheeting and tarpaulins); mobile medical teams providing supplies, first aid and surgical care; generators to power the pumping of clean water; water purification; re-hydration salts; mosquito nets. Plans are for 100 bamboo and tin transitional shelters in Yangon.

Tearfund is also supporting Myanmar Baptist Convention in the distribution of: drinking water; medicines for waterborne contagious diseases; emergency food supplies; clothing; temporary shelter materials. A second relief phase will support: re-housing, water supply; livelihood regeneration and education.

To donate to the DEC Myanmar (Burma) Cyclone Appeal please visit www.dec.org.uk  or call +44 0870 60 60 900. Or to give directly to Tearfund’s disasters fund visit www.tearfund.org  or call +44 0845 355 8355.

For further information contact Jonathan Spencer in the Tearfund Press Office on + 44 020 8943 7901 or 07767 473516

** Michael Ireland, Chief Correspondent of ANS, is an international British freelance journalist who was formerly a reporter with a London newspaper and has been a frequent contributor to UCB Europe, a British Christian radio station. Michael's involvement with ASSIST News Service is a sponsored ministry department -- Michael Ireland Media Missionary (MIMM) -- of ACT International at: Artists in Christian Testimony (ACT) International.