Mandalay, Myanmar– On Friday 28 March, a 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck central Myanmar. From the epicentre in the city of Sagaing, the tremor was felt across Thailand, Bangladesh, China and Laos. Our teams already in the country immediately mobilised to travel to the affected areas in Sagaing, Mandalay, Naypyitaw, and Southern Shan states to assess initial needs, while our emergency teams prepared to arrive in Myanmar as early as possible.
U Mar (85)
When the earthquake hit, I was in the mosque. The shaking was soft and slowly at first, then it got worse. I was standing next to the wall. Two people on my left and right sides were swept away by the wall when it crumbled.
My daughter came to my rescue. When she saw me, my hand was stuck in the window. She wanted to help me get it out, but I called out to her saying: “I do it by myself, I can walk, I will walk slowly.”
My sons were in the mosque as well, but my daughter couldn’t find them, so she climbed up into the rubble to look for them. She found one of them, who was bleeding profusely.
My younger daughter was looking for her brothers too, when a little boy on the street shouted, “Help me, help me,” and at that moment, the second earthquake struck. The boy and my daughter were trapped in a collapsing building; they did not survive. Among my family members, 2 were injured and 1 died, we are 10 in total. The injured were rushed to a 300-bed hospital in Mandalay for emergency treatment. Now my family is fine at home.
I have high blood pressure and diabetes, so I came to the Mobile Clinic opened by MSF.
Now, I want to repair the damaged buildings. It doesn’t mean that everything will be fine, but I think it is reasonable.
In the past, our village was quite peaceful with everybody following their tasks. The children were always happy, and the football field was lively. Now, there is so many collapsed houses or houses who have tilted. There are no more ladders to climb. I am not the only one who lost someone – some people have lost their entire families. Now, families are not complete. And even families whose members have all survived, don’t have a home anymore. I feel really sad every time I think about it.
Here, food and drink are still the main things we are concerned about rather than rehabilitation. We also need a lot of government assistance. I would like to repair the damaged buildings. It doesn’t mean that everything will be fine, but I think it is reasonable.
Than Zaw Soe and family
My name is Than Zaw Soe. I am 28 years old, my wife is Ni Pho (31), we have two children. We live in this town, Tada-U, my mother is also part of our household. Our house is made of wood, so there was not much damage when the earthquake hit on March 28th. Things fell and broke and we have some cracks here and there. However, the Dukthawaddy Bridge collapsed and therefore the road to work was blocked. I work in delivery in Mandalay, first I couldn’t go to work and now that the bridge has been repaired, they have suspended my work – we are facing financial challenges as a result. We were not rich before the earthquake, but now it is even more difficult. Since I’m not working, I joined the relief team and helped the earthquake-affected people with my labor. We came to the monastery today to help with the clean up here – lucky conscience to find this clinic who could take care of my son who stepped into a nail.
Dr. Zar Zar Lin Aung
My name is Za Za Lin Aung. My uncle – he is a doctor – has this holistic approach to health, that physical health relates to mental health. He always said, when people are sick, they are tired – not only physically but mentally, so he did his best to help them in both aspects. I found this very inspiring – even as a kid I taught people about health and later I became a doctor myself; I like to think that I’m following in my uncle’s footsteps, approaching health not only from the physical side.
I have been a doctor for 9 years now (since 2016), I’m from Taung Gyi, Shan state. Before I came to Mandalay to help in response to the earthquake, I used to practice there in a private clinic.
When the 7.7 earthquake hit, we also experienced it in Taung Gyi. Something like this had never occurred before, we were quite shocked. Not long after it happened, I started to see news saying that Mandalay, Sagaing, and Inle Lake were very badly affected. I felt for the people and really wanted to help, but I didn’t know how to join the response efforts.
And then a friend contacted me, saying that that MSF was looking for volunteer doctors. I immediately decided to quit my job in Taung Gy and go to help without hesitation. I applied at MSF and got a call from HR the next day. Within 2 days I arrived in Mandalay.
I have medical knowledge and as these are skills very much needed in the affected areas, I’m very happy to be able to put them into practice where it is needed most. My main motivation is that I want to help my fellow Myanmar citizens when they are in trouble.
We mainly treat skin infections, and non-communicable diseases like diabetes and high-blood pressure. So far, there have not been any outbreaks of water-borne or vector-borne diseases like acute watery diarrhea or malaria and dengue fever, in the affected areas by the earthquake, but this is one of our concerns in respect to the approaching monsoon season.
We also see people who were injured in the earthquake – they mostly received first treatment at the local hospitals and come to us for a follow up. Like the little boy in Bhone Oh township – during the earthquake a pot of boiling water fell on him, and he suffered severe burns. He was initially treated at Mandalay General Hospital and his parents brought him to us for a checkup, he was very much in pain and screamed heartbreakingly when we changed his dressings.
There was one patient that I still think of frequently, also at Bhone Oh camp: A mother brought her son in, who had suffered a head injury and very narrowly escaped death. The boy seemed to be daydreaming or rather still trying to understand what had happened. He didn’t play and talk anymore. His mother was also feeling depressed after seeing her son being injured and losing her husband. At that time, we didn’t have a mental health team with us yet, so all we could do was create a safe space where they could share their experience and feelings and acknowledge their suffering. We also took their contact and the next day, our mental health team followed up with them.
In our work we heavily rely on the community-based organizations that exist in almost every township and camp here. I really like working with MSF, I like how systematically we approach the needs and collaborating with civil society organizations is new to me, so I have the chance to learn a lot. I am very proud to be an MSF staff, because I can provide the necessary support to the areas that really need it. I work with passion and dedication in everything I do, but here it feels especially rewarding.
