Global Voices Online

Around two hours ago, an earthquake registering 7.8 on the Richter scale struck central-west China, with tremors felt as far away as Beijing and Hong Kong.

Twitter seems to be a top source of breaking details for the moment; Beijing-based tech guru Kaiser Kuo writes that the government Earthquake Bureau website is currently inaccessible, presumably from high levels of traffic.

Users inwalkedbud and Lyrrael have been posting updates reporting what they can.

Inwalkedbud writes from Chengdu, quite near the center of the earthquake: “Doesn't seem to be much damage to buildings, but people are shaken up. Electricity/water/gas seems to be working still.”

Other areas have not been as fortunate; Chinese Twitter user Raine, based in Hubei, writes of possible destruction there:

同事刚电话回家，湖北的荆州、沙市的房子倒了一片，有灾情。

Danwei has already compiled a number of updates from various sources. Chinese video portal websites were quick to get user-shot video from Sichua up on their front pages.

This clip on 56.com comes from user Little Fish in Wenchuan, Sichuan:

And this from video sharing website Youku.com comes from user xiaoyu82528, showing the effect of the earthquake as felt as far away as Beijing:

Also courtesy of Danwei is a note to keep following Summize.com, one Twitter search engine which supports Chinese characters, for steady updates; updates found via Summize and other places will be added here as they are found.

Anyone with more information regarding other areas around China that have been affected is invited to gives us a heads-up in the comments.

After the disintegration of the USSR, the Soviet communist identity and ideology ceased to exist and the new countries confronted the vital problems of defining new identities and ideologies. Most of the ex-Soviet countries were quick to give up the past and embrace the new life with new national values and ideas. Uzbekistan was one of the few countries where a process of defining a new identity and setting up new national values went in a very rapid manner.

The changing cultural and political atmosphere was first reflected throughout Uzbekistan through renaming of squares, streets and parks from Soviet-type names into symbols of either independence or national identity. All Soviet monuments were dismantled, being replaced with the heroes of Uzbek history. For the last two weeks, the Uzbek blogosphere discussed changes that were happenning in the post-Soviet period in Uzbekistan. (more…)

Pangea Day took place Saturday, and people from different parts of the world got together to watch movies and be a part of the worldwide event where movies, speakers and music showed us a bit of life on the other side of the globe, uniting people from all walks of life to believe that we aren't as different as we would believe. It also included a mobile video contest, with an international lineup of winners.

From Kigali in Rwanda, one of the 5 main screening locations, a slide-show of photographs from the event uploaded on OVI, the video and image platform used to promote PangeaDay content:

From Haifa in Israel, another slide-show of the gathering to watch the event near the Caesarea Port:

During the Event,the friends of Pangea website had live streaming feeds from different places in the world including US, Colombia, Italy, Japan, New Zealand. Other sites, like the Colombian Medellín PangeaDay [es] event had their own website where liveblogging, streaming video and photographs were posted during the event.

Nokia, a PangeaDay partner had the 2008 Nokia Mobile Filmmaking Awards Contest taking place along with the events, and the 5 finalists were flown into one of the 5 different screening locations. You can view the winning videos at this pangeaday OVI site.The finalists were: Rounds all around us by kayoom in India, smile by goofylopez in Indonesia, amazing rainbows! Shot and Edited with my Nokia 93 by ruperthowe in the United Kingdom, The Game -South African Children having fun in a Video Games Room by ecachucho and Clouds Running by pierba in Italy.

The Grand Prize winner on the Pangea/Nokia OVI website is ecachucho with his video on South African children playing arcade games, who won a trip to the Rwandan Gorilla Reserve, with a full crew to help the winner record his trip.

A side draw organized between Nokia and Womworld, which results were announced by David Howell Studios, the creator of the winning video would receive a Nokia N82, a carrying case, tripod, memory card, headphones and speakers. This chosen video was Amazing Rainbows, and in his announcement he mentioned that the winner was chosen because they portrayed best the spirit of the mobile video: recording those once in a lifetime moments that could be gone and never repeat themselves.

“Why are there no cinemas in Saudi Arabia?” asks Saudi blogger Hayfa [Ar], who offers us her ideas of a workable plan to make cineplexes and movie screenings compliant with her country's traditional and religious outlook.

She explains:

ما الذي يمنع وجود دور السينما في السعودية؟ للأسف عادةً يُطرح هذا السؤال في بداية النقاش لتأتي الإجابة لاحقاً متضمنة الأسباب، لكن دون إجابة مقنعة، حيث تضيع الفكرة الرئيسية ونكتفي فقط بمناقشة فكرة دور السينما بشكل عام قبل أن تصبح في السعودية. ما يخطئ به الكثيرين هو الاعتقاد الخاطئ حول فائدة السينما، فالكثيرون يعتبرونها “مجرّد” وسيلة ترفيهية، بينما هي أكثر من ذلك بكثير.. فالسينما وسيلة ثقافية قبل أن تصبح وسيلة إمتاع مثلها في ذلك مثل الكتب. ومايقدّم فيها لا يقلّ أهميّةً عن أي فنّ آخر. وليست الأفلام بالأمر الجديد علينا، فأسواق الفيديو لدينا خير شاهد على اطّلاعنا على هذا الفن، وإن كان هناك نوعٌ من الإحباط في الأفلام التي تزخر بها أسواقنا ذات الطابع الحركي والكوميدي الرخيص نظراً للاحتكار وسيطرة التجارة في هذه المسألة. الخشية تكون دائماً من المحتوى لا من دور العرض، هكذا يجب أن يكون المنطق.. فالأفكار والمشاهد تنقل بالمادّة، والسينما ليست إلا وعاء لهذه المادّة كالتلفاز تماماً وهذا الأخير ليس ممنوعاً في بلدنا. إذن لمَ التخوّف؟ ماذا لو كانت السينما بضوابط إسلامية؟ وأصبحت مواضيع الأفلام مراقبة؟.
في كل الدول تصنّف الأفلام تصنيفاً عمرياً، وهذه الطريقة تنظّم عرض الأفلام بشكل أكبر، وفي استطاعة الجهات الرقابية لدينا التحكّم بالتصنيفات العمرية بالطريقة التي تراها مناسبة. وليتم اقتطاع اللقطات غير مستحبّة كما هو حاصل الآن في شرائط الفيديو دون أن يخل هذا الاقتطاع بمسار الفيلم. ولتكن أوقات عرض الأفلام متناسبة مع أوقات الصلاة..
ولماذا لا نجد طريقة يتم فيها فصل سينما النساء والأطفال عن سينما الرجال؟ نحن لا نريد السينما لعرض ثقافة الآخر بقدر ما نريدها لإنتاج ثقافتنا الخاصة، فالسينما رسالة نستطيع توجيهها كيفما أردنا، وباستخدامنا لها سنضمن وصول صوتنا للعالم دون تشويه، كما هي آراؤهم حولنا.

What prevents the presence of cinema screening halls in Saudi Arabia? Unfortunately, this is the question poised at the beginning of every discussion for an answer which contains the reasons to follow - but the reasons are never convincing. The main idea is lost and we are content with discussing the idea of cinema halls in general before they become a reality in Saudi Arabia. What many people are misguided about is the wrong belief of the benefit of cinemas. A lot of people think that it is ‘merely' a means of entertainment. In reality, it is more than that by a lot.. Cinema is, like books, a means of culture more than entertainment. What it presents is not lesser in importance than any other art. Films are not something new for us. The video market we have is a testimony that we are well versed in this art, even when this is a depressing reality as the videos in our market focus on action and cheap comedy because of the monopoly and commercial nature of this market. The worry is always from the content and not from the screening halls - this is how we should think logically. Thoughts come to the viewer because of the content (of those movies) and the cinema is a vehicle for this thought just as television is - and the latter is not banned in our country. What is the fear for then?
What if we presented a cinema with Islamic regulations, with the material censored? All countries categorise films based on age groups and this method regulates how films are screened in a better way. Censors can decide on the age groups suitable for each movie in the way they see suitable. They can cut the undesirable parts just as they do with video tapes and in a way which doesn't effect the proceedings of the film. And let the cinema showing timings not coincide with prayer timings.. Why can't we find a way to separate the women's and children's cinemas from the men's cinema? We don't want a cinema to showcase the culture of others, as much as we need it produce our own culture. Cinemas carry a message which we can project the way we want and by utilising it effectively, we can make the world listen to our voices without the stereotypes which mar our images in their eyes.

Today's Blogger of the Week may not be known by her blog, but she is widely known by her labour at Global Voices Online in French. Until recently, she has been the only translator for that Lingua site, which owes its existence much to Claire Ulrich's drive and desire to see the project on track. Juan Arellano catches up with Claire in this interview, who kindly shares with us her views on a number of issues.

How did you get involved with GVO?

I first got involved with citizen media through Ohmynews, the South Korean veteran citizen reporting website, where I covered French news (in English) as an experiment in global citizen reporting. As a professional journalist, I wanted to explore new forms of media. During the 2006 Ohmynews international conference in Seoul, I first heard about Global Voices from its co-founder, Ethan Zuckerman, who attended the conference. This led to a profile written for the weekend supplement of Le Monde (sorry, no website). While checking information, I met (via email) Alice Backer, who was in charge of the then new Lingua project. Global Voices in French was about to be launched and needed a volunteer to help out with translations. It was supposed to be temporary. I am still around.

How did you become interested in new forms of media?

I have advocated citizen media since 2004 as much needed new blood in the realm of news. After 20 years in traditional media, I felt tired and disillusioned by the elitism and short sightedness of news. The Web and citizen media was a wonderful and refreshing discovery.

Why Lingua, then, which is “only” translating posts ?

I write professionally, so I don't feel the urge to contribute as an author. Translation is a personal pleasure, since I pick up posts that I find interesting, or important for our local readers. Within the last couple of years, the issue of localizing websites has gained a lot of momentum in the industry (corporate, news) and the experience accumulated by Lingua sites is, according to me, extremely valuable. The multilingual web is just around the corner. In that light, the Lingua project is a fascinating experimenting ground, and a very sophisticated one. I am also amazed at the vitality of Lingua. GVO is probably the only news outlet in the world to boast a Macedonian and Albanian edition!

In all the time you have been collaborating with GVO, what is your most memorable experience?

My defining moment was the Burma (Myanmar) uprising, in both good and bad. Good because it was urgent and important to translate the trickle of citizen news in French as fast as they were published on the GVO main site. They were the only news coming out of this country. And bad because the risks and consequences on Burmese citizen reporters in the following repression were terrible. Can we congratulate ourselves on breaking news to audiences all over the world if citizens with no official accreditation and protection, and their family, suffer from it ?

How do you see the future of citizen reporters?

As a collaboration with “traditional” journalists when bridges between the two universes will finally be established. I believe in teams mixing professionals and bloggers.

You discussed your relationship with Lingua. How is the French site of GVO doing?

It maintains a presence for GVO in the vast Francophile web (Africa, Canada, Europe) but it's slow burning. There is, as always with localization, an image problem. GVO tends to be categorized as a human rights advocacy site by French audiences and not as a news site because it is extremely Anglo-Saxon in its “philosophical” positioning and feels “foreign” to a French eye. Above all, French readers have difficulties understanding the concept, sorting out who is the original post author, the GVO author role, who is translating what from which languages, for whom and why. Let's admit it ! It's difficult to grasp a work flow where a Palestinian blogger reviews blogs in Arabic about something happening in London or New York, writes about them in English, and then someone else pick ups his post to translate it in, say, Malagasy or Bangla. People can get dizzy!

What are you doing, in GVO French, to change this?

Bridging cultural gaps is an issue every website in the world has to face when facing local audiences. Right now, I listen/read to conversations between GVO authors, translators, Lingua sites in preparation for the Global Voice Summit in Budapest, next June. How GV-Lingua sites could evolve has to be a collective decision because it is important, and tricky.

Tell us a little bit about your experiences as a journalist apart from GVO?

I worked as a staff writer for French news weeklies for 10 years, then as a TV reporter for eight years (yes, I am old). I now work for off line and on line publications as a freelancer and I localize English websites for the French market. There is still a lot of defiance from French journalists towards bloggers. I try to be the go-between and introduce them to each others.

Are there many people doing what you do among the French media?

Very few… Newspapers now all have websites and Web 2.0 widgets but the mentality is still very far from the web 2.0 spirit.

There aren't many French journalists in the local French blogging community. What do the main French bloggers think about this?

French journalists now have blogs on their newspaper websites, as part of a general Web 2.0 effort. But they do not consider bloggers as colleagues or comrades. French bloggers, on the other side, spend quite a lot of time criticizing “regular” journalists. We are still in the midst of “What is journalism?” and “Is blogging a form of journalism?” debate.

What can you tell us about your personal experience as a blogger here?

For professional reasons, I do not blog about news or my personal opinions. I have opinions, but I feel that blogging about them under my name (I don't want to use a false name) would create a conflict of interest with my professional writting. I have fun blogs : a photo blog and a tech blog.

How do you prefer to spend your free time? Any hobbies?

The Web is my favorite sandbox. With my cat sitting beside the desktop screen.

So.. what are your favourite blogs?

I like nothing more than surfing and discovering by chance personal blogs about anything and everything, cattle raising or children litterature. I remember spending hours browsing Indian matrimonial websites that I stumbled upon by chance. It was absolutely fascinating, and a lesson in contemporary India.

Last but not least, tell us about your cat?

Her name is Pioum. White cat. Green eyes. Lovely soul. I've a met of lot of cat lovers in the GVO community (we exchange photos of our cats !). Which made me wonder why cats are the totem pets of bloggers around the world. Probably because bloggers spend a lot of time at their desktop. Only cats can stay silent, focused and beautiful for hours on end around a computer ! I discovered that Pioum loves YouTube. Select a few YouTube videos featuring lab mices, rabbits, birds, play them for your cat, and you'll see what I mean !

The Tunisian blogosphere was buzzing last week with responses to Nicholas Sarkozy's official visit.

Cos-maux-polis has several posts about the trip criticizing certain statements made by Sarkozy as racist:

Décidément les déclarations de Nicolas Sarkozy sur le sol africain ont de quoi interroger. Voici qu'à l'occasion de son voyage officiel en Tunisie, le Président de la République a laissé percevoir sa conception du partenariat Nord-Sud : « Vous avez une main d'œuvre qui ne demande qu'à être formée, nous avons beaucoup d'intelligence et beaucoup de formation (…) ».

Clearly the statements of Nicolas Sarkozy on African soil are worth questioning. On the occasion of his official visit to Tunisia, the President of the Republic revealed his concept of a North-South partnership: “You have a workforce who do waiting to be trained, we have a lot intelligence and a lot of training (…).”

She also reported statements from Bakchich :

lors du voyage officiel en Tunisie, Nicolas Sarkozy aurait déclaré en off : « à chaque fois que je viens (en Tunisie), il y a une grève de la faim. Chaque fois que je pars, la grève s'arrête. Je le constate, c'est tout ». Il aurait ajouté: « bien sûr qu'il n'y a pas de démocratie en Tunisie. Mais on n'y a pas les mêmes critères qu'en France ».

during the official visit to Tunisia, Nicolas Sarkozy declared, off the record: “whenever I come (in Tunisia), there is a hunger strike. Whenever I go, the strike ends. I'm just saying, that's what I see.” He reportedly added: “Of course there is no democracy in Tunisia. But the criteria here are not the same as in France “.

Tunisian blogger Zizou from Djerba writes about the fall of the Tunisian opposition, which coincided with Sarkozy's visit, and insisted on the need for change while Sarkozy demonstrated his pragmatism:

Comme tout le monde l'a constate, le president francais a choisi son camps et l'a montre clairement. Sarkozy a choisi de jouer la carte du gouvernement alors que la partie visible de l'opposition , gonflee a bloc apres les evenements de Redeyef l'attendait comme un messie. Une enieme greve de la faim a ete organise et les contacts ont ete pris bien a l'avance avec des journalistes qui connaissent deja le pitch….Les propos du president Francais avaient le merite d'etre clairs et sa position est tout a fait comprehensible et limite previsible.

As everyone has noted, the French president chose his camp and showed it clearly. Sarkozy has chosen to play the government's card while the visible part of the opposition bloc, which has swelled since the [food protests] in Redeyef, received him like a messiah. For the umpteenth time, a hunger strike was organized and journalists, who already know the drill, were contacted well in advance…. The remarks of the French president had the merit of being clear and his position is entirely understandable and unsurprisingly limited.

Global Voices Advocacy Director Sami Ben Gharbia writes with irony about this visit in a post titled “Sarkozy has voted Ben Ali” (”Sarkozy a voté Ben Ali”), even embedding a video of famous French muppets ‘”les guignols de l'info”:

He writes:

Au deuxième jour de sa deuxième visite d'Etat en Tunisie, Nicolas Sarkozy est resté fidèle à la diplomatie des contrats, que certains veulent qualifier de “Realpolitik”, et nous apporte la bonne nouvelle : “l'espace des libertés progresse en Tunisie”. Enfin ! Ben Ali a eu droit aux louanges de la part de quelqu'un qui ne veut pas s'ériger “en donneur de leçons” sur les droits de l'Homme.

On the second day of his second state visit to Tunisia, Nicolas Sarkozy has remained faithful to the diplomacy of contracts, which some people want to characterize as “realpolitik”; he brings us some good news: “the space for freedoms progresses in Tunisia”. Finally! Ben Ali has been entitled to praise from someone who does not want to “lecture” others on human rights.

In a recent opinion letter to one of Cambodia's newspapers, Chak Sopeap, 23, voices her concern over a commercial television advertisement, which she believes affect the nation's culture.

Sopheap praises the government for the improved press rights and freedom of expression, but wants Ministry of Culture as well as Ministry of Information to ensure that all commercial TV ads should be properly monitored before going on air.

It's not the first time for the young human rights activist expressing her opinion through Op-Ed. But it was until last year when she joined Cambodia blogger community that all her letters (one of which is about Khmer Rouge tribunal), published in English-language daily newspaper The Cambodia Daily, can also be found on her personal Weblog.

In the controversial ads, it appears that several Cambodian sexy women in attractive clothes embracing promotional motorbike Suzuki Viva 2009.

I noticed a recent advertisement for Susuki Viva 2009 is problematic. This advertisement appears to target on sexy girls rather than on the Motor; its content is not consistent and affect the Khmer Culture and disvalue the woman.

Offending or not, Thomas Wanhoff, a German national commented on Sopheap's expressed opinion that:

If Cambodia wants to be part of the global markets, its has to accept one of the oldest rules in advertising: sex sells. But not only that: The whole pop culture in Cambodia is just a copy of what we now from Thailand. Where is the real culture? Look how especially girls are dressed up. Why are a lot of karaoke bars, casinos, night bars, named it. The reality is far from what you decribed not consistent.

This debatable point also appeared in a Cambodia related discussion board, and that a long-time American resident wrote an email saying that

I might suggest you try to get a picture of the offending ad - it doesn't have to be the worst part, or a good picture but it will support your argument. (I wonder if it is on YouTube?) Also, what station is running it?

Not surprisingly, Cambodia has introduced a number regulations and bans in attempt to improve social order as well as morality. Early this year, a song titled “I’m asking for one part of your heart” was requested not to be replayed on TV by the country's First Lady.

In 2006, fear of widespread of pornography among cellphone users, Cambodia blocked some features of sending digital video on 3G network service.

A year later, based on a request from National Election Committee, mobile phone text messaging was blocked during a weekend of 2007 local elections to avoid political unrest. ‘Details are Sketchy,' a blog about all things Cambodia, has a response to the news article:

For starters, Khmer fonts for the average telephone are virtually unheard of. But, really, that’s besides the point. The fact is, an overwhelming majority of the Cambodian population is illiterate. And poor. So in practice such a ban would only effect registered voters who also own a telephone and can read English. That’s a pretty small group. Significantly less than 1% of the population. It is, however, exactly the kind of people that vote for Sam Rainsy. Still, it hardly seems worth the effort.

A week has passed since Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar. The situation on the ground continues to deteriorate: food rationing is inadequate, medical supplies are running out and hundreds of thousands are still without shelter.

Burma Cyclone provides general updates of the situation in Myanmar. Bangkok Parlour fears there will be more casualties due to cholera and other diseases:

“The prognosis is bad. 65,000 dead, possibly in excess of 100,000. More than 1 million homeless, battling to stave off hunger and disease whilst living amidst debris and bloated bodies. Cholera may yet kill more than the cyclone.”

Bangkok Dazed received another email from a friend in Yangon:

“I’m fine but so many others, so many, are homeless or dead or without shelter. I really did not take much notice of the cyclone warnings from the state media although they did say it would be serious. Now I am careful of batteries in my laptop, but thank god I can send emails. I hope this gets to you. I have no power but everything is alright. Writing this by torch and candlelight. It was a very scary 13 hours from before midnight of the 2nd to afternoon of next day. Had a slight accident with my car, front grill/lights ripped out. I am unhurt but rattled. So many trees are down … Yangon looks wounded.”

Fear from Freedom feels sad after reading a Burmese blog:

“These are the educated youth of Myanmar with no hope for their future inside the country. He said that he did not want to live in this country when he is 30 in 2010. He wrote about the cyclone in his blog and today he and his friends are trying their best to help the victims.

“According to his news, the cyclone victims are desperate, hungry and grab whatever they can from any office or donors. Cholera is spreading, no clean water, no security, transport is bad, everything in chaos.

“Is there anyone that can calm the situation and promise help to these victims?”

Myat Thura gets an update from his family:

“After the cyclone, the prices of commodities rose to 50% of that before the cyclone; but now they have stabilized to around 20% above the pre-cyclone level. Petrol price is now 5,000 kyats a gallon (around 4 US dollars).

“Most of the main roads have been cleared of the debris and fallen trees. Electricity is coming back in a few areas but most places are still without electricity. Municipal water is coming back.”

The Junta has partially allowed the entry of some foreign aid teams. Perhaps international pressure has worked. Golden Colour Revolution posts a letter which is a sample of the sentiments expressed by Burmese living overseas:

“We, Burmese medical professionals and Burmese civic organizations all over the world have been following the news of cyclone Nargis victims with deep sympathy and concerns. Cyclone victims have been without effective help for 6 days now and we are very much concerned about unnecessary human suffering and deaths. The situation is extremely dire with many people barely surviving.”

Rule of Lords gathers stories on relief operations. He notes that

“doctors are using their own money to buy medicines and townspeople are organizing to feed the refugees and victims of the storm being treated at the hospital.”

Even local relief groups are prevented from giving aid to victims:

“Private citizens and domestic social welfare groups within Burma trying to give assistance have encountered problems with authorities. According to VOA, residents have complained of harassment and questioning when they have taken whatever supplies of food, clothing and other items to badly affected persons.”

Residents are now complaining of the little assistance they are receiving form local councils:

“Yoma 3 says that people in Rangoon are getting angrier about their predicament and the small amounts of assistance given by local councils. According to one resident of ward no. 8 in Shwepyithar,

“We heard that they would distribute food and went to find that it was only one pyi (about a quarter litre) of rice grain and one hseithar (about 160gm) of potato per household, and even then it just went to the people close to the USDA and Women’s Affairs, which led them to argue with the other people.”

“In some other areas victims of the cyclone have been getting pathetic amounts of assistance and they have been forced to boil the rice grain as a thin soup because there is not enough of it to cook as normal.”

Burma Partnership gives an update:

“Malaria and cholera cases and death in delta around worse-hit areas of Laputta, Bogalay and Pyapon Townships and around 600 villages are still under water. The current situation is quite overwhelmed and many heartbreaking stories emerge as some local residents and aid workers are able to reach to areas like Laputta, Bogalay, Pyapon, and Hinegyi Island. On Thursday (8/5/08), the regime turned back one relief flight with the reason that it carried search and rescue team plus media without permission.”

Moe Gyo provides a narrative of how volunteers are distributing aid inside Myanmar:

10 May 2008 (Saturday)

07:55 hr - Left Yangon (through Hlaing Thar Yar)
08:45 hr - Reached Ayeyarwaddy Division
10:20 hr - Passed through MaUBin (from junction to MaUBin - bad road condition) - fair destruction along the road
10:40 hr - Passed through KyaitLatt (MuB - KyL: fair road condition) - severe (buildings/trees) destruction along the road and in KyaitLatt town
11:30 hr - Reached Phyar Bon (KyL - PhB: fair road and poor bridge condition) - severe destruction in Phyar Bon (some relief camps there - don't know the number)

12:30 hr - Arrived Bogalay Township - Flat tire, helped by locals, who shared their experience: received warning in the morning at around 7 on ward by speakers (they know only for the Bogalay town, but not sure about the villages around/across the river, near sea), no evacuation plan, many people didn't pay much attention as they didn't expect much danger based on the past Tsunami experience in Delta (little damage), they started noticing of heavy winds around 6 p.m. and became stronger, the sky were totally red, wind blew from different direction, then many people in town took shelter in neighbors' houses (with brick-wall/strong roofs), debris everywhere, one person said it could have been worse (more casualties) in town if happened during the day time as many people were on the road (20 deaths in Bogalay town - figure not confirmed), water went up to about 3 feet in town and reached up to 20 feet in surrounding villages, where thousands died. Those who helped us said that they will never forget the experience and they lost their houses (saw in person), but they seemed to have high-spirit waiting for help to rebuild their houses (now they got help from their neighbors for shelter and rice from relief camps). But, under the condition, they shouldn't wait any minutes. Distributed a few bags of milo, ovaltine, some food etc. to them and gave a tent-sheet (bought from BKK) to an elderly who still lived under a house with no roof (experienced some rain). The conditions in surrounded areas of Bogalay are very bad as the authority had to issue Martial Law in some areas (some looting and killing for food). Those who survived (7-8 only in some villages) left their villages.

14:00 hr - Went to the river bank (similar to Tsumani affected area to some extent - based on what we saw in Phuket area). Talked to some locals: situation is still very chaotic, they saw 4-5 bodies in the river, we saw one, nobody seemed to care about that even we saw some people around and they were trying to save an engine from the river). Saw some victim family/refugees in a monastery, but couldn't talk to them due to time constraint. One thing that surprised me was that we didn't hear anyone crying for help or asking desperately for food/shelter. I'm sure that will be a very different story in severely affected areas that can be reached by boats. Some aid workers and volunteers have already arranged with some boats to reach there to deliver supplies.
15:00 hr - Left Bogalay (after fixing the spare-tire. Note: everyone must take a spare-tire as the roads were full of debris in some areas)
16:45 hr - Passed through Kawt Mhuu (fair road, bad destruction along the road) - heavy rain

Conclusion, based on this experience, it's very feasible to reach to the affected areas in Delta very quickly. Road conditions in some areas are bad, but manageable: with normal speed (40-50 km/h), even Bogalay can be reached within 4-5 hours. Since some bridges are not strong enough, heavy supplies (such as rice) wouldn't be practical. There were some normal checkpoints (asked questions: where to go? driver's name?) One must avoid any argument with the authorities at the checkpoints as it might just delay achieving your main objectives.

Golden Colour Revolution shares the complaint of a relief group operating in Myanmar:

“You have seen and heard about the situation in here. Yesterday, we distributed the food and shelter to the cyclone affected area within our project area. It's totally 800 household and as our project is the food security project we need to support them in this situation.

“But today we received the letter from the authorities to stop that without the permission. Now, all the NGOs are trying to support and go to the effected area, and but we cannot go immediately as gov don't want to permit it. They ask us to give support through them.

“So you can think and imagine of the people in delta region. U know, this is not the politic, it's really humanity matter. We are now sitting many meetings in the office all the time and busy with storing the materials.

“All the Burmese people outside of Myanmar should do something for that. Pls pray for all the refugees. “

Ur's sister.

KyiMayKaung ponders on the recent tragedy:

“Nargis is a beautiful word and means “narcissus” in Urdu. It was also the name of a famous Bollywood actress who was achingly beautiful, with a pale oval face, black arched eyebrows and plump arms. In one of the novels of Salman Rushdie, the woman who cooks, but cooks with rancor, turns out nargissi kofta, or deep fried meat balls encasing hard boiled eggs, otherwise known as Scotch eggs.

“Something so beautifully named has caused a lot of death and destruction. We are only now starting to hear excruciating survivor stories.”

Related articles: The perfect storm, Unprecedented cyclone disaster, Slow relief work