Process for Developing the Book

One of the Yinthway Foundation staff made her first trip to the Delta Area affected by Cyclone Nargis two weeks after the cyclone hit. She visited communities, taking pictures, collecting information on the situation in the villages, and listening to the experiences of both the adults and the children. Everyone seemed to need to tell their experiences, so listening to them was an important part of her trip.

Following that initial trip, this staff member made three more trips. On subsequent trips, besides listening to their experiences and the difficulties of their present situation, she focused more on the children – observing them, doing activities with them, generally paying attention to them and giving them her time. This staff member is the focal person for Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) at Yinthway Foundation. She has had more than eleven years of experience in Myanmar in the field of ECCD, first as an ECCD preschool teaching principal and then as a trainer of trainers, teachers, community leaders, and parents, for both community and faith-based ECCD projects.

In the meantime, Yinthway Foundation was loaned the book, The Day the Tsunami Came, by Hijltje Vink. After reading that book, Yinthway Foundation agreed to the request, from World Concern – Myanmar, to develop a similar children’s book for Myanmar. The ECCD staff member then wrote the book, based on seven or eight children’s actual experiences of the cyclone in the Ayerwaddy Delta.

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A beautiful Asian version of a true tsunami story, Owen and Mzee, by Isabelle Hatkoff, May May (written in Burmese) is the tale of a young water bufffalo who loves his Mama very much but gets separated from her in a big storm and is washed up on a beach and adopted by a Mama cow.

Drawn by a talented Burmese illustrator/cartoonist the images are simple but vibrant. Printed in Myanmar for the survivors of Cyclone Nargis.

The devastation left by Cyclone Nargis in May of last year had lasting effects on the people in the affected regions – not least of which, the children. Many children became displaced from their homes or villages or lost family members.

Besides helping to provide immediate relief during the early aftermath of the disaster, Yinthway has also been involved in providing information and training materials to parents and teachers to help children process the traumatic experiences during and after Cyclone Nargis