ITC Alumni meet in Yangon just three days before the devastating cyclone struck Myanmar

Just three days before the devastating cyclone struck Myanmar (Burma) on Saturday 3 May, a group of ITC alumni, brought together by Mr. U Thein Lwin and Marjan Kreijns, ITC representative for SE-Asia, had a dinner meeting in the Traders Hotel in Yangon. Most of the 159 registered ITC alumni were trained at ITC in the seventies and eighties, when Myanmar was still eligible under the Netherlands Fellowship Programme (NFP).

ITC Alumni meet in Yangon just three days before the devastating cyclone struck Myanmar

It is extremely sad that these natural disaster strike in countries where people live under difficult circumstances. More than 78,000 people were killed in the storm, says the state media in Myanmar and more than 56,000 others are missing. The authorities say many lost their lives in a huge tidal surge that swept inland during the storm. The international community in Bangkok confirms that it is likely that the death toll is much higher. It is already being seen as the worst natural disaster in East Asia since the tsunami of 2004.

Millions are left homeless and without food and water. The rice harvest of this year is completely destroyed and Burma faces a serious short-term and possible long-term problem in feeding its people.  "This disaster is going to last," said one European diplomat. "It's not something that is going to be over in a couple of weeks or months. It will have far-reaching consequences until the next harvest."

Five days after the disaster Marjan Kreijns was able to get in contact with Mr. U Thein Lwin. Who reports about the chaos in Yangon.