As Nargis' Anniversary Nears, Schools Sprout Back Up
By Aung Myo

The onset of May brings with it the memory of the destruction brought by Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar, but also still ongoing efforts to put the pieces of life back together again. These efforts include reconstructing and building schools, since about 4,000 of them were totally or partially damaged by the killer cyclone that struck on May 3, 2008, according to the Post-Nargis Joint Assessment report done by the Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN).

For some time after the disaster, students were writing on floors or studying in the heat. The reconstruction and rehabilitation work is far from finished and many young people need to work to help their families, but local communities have welcomed the newly built schools.

Nargis, which hit the Irrawaddy delta the hardest, killed more than 84,000 people and affected 2,4 million out of the 7.35 million people living in the affected townships.