Htaw Pai

Location

Livelihood

Food & Water

School

Church

Team

Conclusion

New Houses

Village: Htaw Pai

Tract: Daunt Gyi

Township: Bogale

Total population: 165

Households:31

Village Head: Ko Sine Tint

School Level: N/A

Number of Students: N/A

Number of Teachers: N/A

Number of Churches: 0

Church Attendance: N/A

Village Christian population: 0%

Latitude: 16°01.534’ N Longitude: 95°28.237’ E

Helipad: No

Storm Surge: 12 ft

Houses destroyed: 100%

Lives Lost: 13

Farmers: 19% Fisherman: 81%

Water: The village has two freshwater lakes that have been cleaned by AZG and are now drinkable

Crops: Growing well, but only 40% of fields planted, farmers concerned harvest is not enough

i Love Myanmar involvement: 31 houses have been donated to Htaw Pai, one for each family

23 small boats (15 ft) will be donated to the village

Location

Htaw Pai is definitely one of the more remote villages that I Love Myanmar is involved in. The ILM team had to navigate though a number of narrow rivers and streams no wider than 2 meters to arrive at the village. Due to its remote geographical location, no other NGO except for ILM and AZG have helped Htaw Pai.

Cyclone Nargis

Winds began to intensify at 5pm on May 2, 2008 and reached its strongest 8 to 10 pm which was followed by a 12 ft storm surge. As all the village houses collapsed, villagers swam for higher ground; others held on to trees and placed their children in tree tops. Although the village lost 13 individuals, none of the casualties were sustained at the village, all the lives lost occurred when Htaw Pai villagers were visiting other villages.

Livelihood

Of all the villages visited by I Love Myanmar, Htaw Pai is by far the poorest. Village temporary houses consist of no more than a simple wooden or bamboo frame covered with canvas. These temporary shelters are the smallest ILM has seen in the region, some measured no more than 6x 10ft and unlike other homes we have seen, these were bare. Initially, villagers did not even have utensils to cook the rice they had received.

Six households own land in the village. Although crops are growing well, only 72 of 165 acres were planted and farmers do not think the harvest will be sufficient to last till their next harvest.

In this village, fishing is seasonal (Nov-Feb) and even farmers need to supplement their income as they are very poor; hence all farmers fish and all fishermen work for those with fields when needed.

However, villagers are so poor they do not have nets or equipment to fish with. They resort to borrowing nets from surrounding villages and when they return the nets, a portion of their catch goes towards the lender.


	Temporary shelters at Htaw Pai

Boats are also extremely important in the area, not only for fishing but transportation. During the dry season when their water lakes dry up, villagers utilize their boat to carry drinking water from other villages. However there are only 8 boats amongst the 31 households.

To add to their misery, although the river that flows in front of their village is currently teaming with aquatic life, the village is unable to purchase fishing rights from the land owner, hence are unable to fish. If caught fishing, villagers will have their nets confiscated.

Left: River rights needed to fish in river in front of village

Food & Water

I Love Myanmar is the sole provider of rice to the village of Htaw Pai. At the time of our visit, villagers only had about 10 day’s worth of rice left.

Htaw Pai has 2 freshwater lakes that have been cleaned by AZG. These lakes now yield drinkable water. However during peak of the dry season, villagers have to carry in water from surrounding villages.

School

Being a small village, there is no school in the village of Htaw Pai. Students have to attend school in surrounding villages. Tuition and board is approximately $ 5,000 Kyats per student a month ($ 5 USD). Of the 57 children between 5 and 17 in the village, only 30 attend school, the other 47% do not, most likely due to financial constrains.

ILM also believes Htaw Pai is a good candidate to implement Emmanuel Education Scholarship as majority of children without schooling are still of appropriate age to continue or start their education.

The annual cost to support the 27 students is as follows:

Number of Students Annual Tuition and Boarding Cost per Student Total (USD)

27 $ 50 USD $ 1,350 USD

Church

Htaw Pai is a Buddhist village, hence there are no churches nor are there any monasteries.

Rebuilding Progress

ILM donated 31 houses to be built in Htaw Pai. Villagers have already donated part of the land allocated for the building of new houses, however a portion of the allocated area is held by a landowner from a different village that was only prepared to part with the property if it was purchased. Yet it was clear the village had no economic ability.

Left: Portion of land allocated cleared for house building

I Love Myanmar Team

Although the initial purpose was only to monitor the house building progress and gather data, seeing the situation, the team acted quickly and decisively to assist this village.

The next morning ILM staff met with the owner of the river; after negotiations, the right to fish in the river was purchased for the village of Htaw Pai.

In addition, ILM also facilitated the discussion between the landowner from neighboring village and Htaw Pai villagers; after a lengthy dialog, the landowner finally agreed to switch land and free up necessary space for the construction of houses.

ILM had intended to order 10 boats for Htaw Pai originally; however a total of 23 boats will be donated for the village now to ensure each household has a boat.

Fishing nets and enough rice to last till their harvest early December were purchased in the town of Bogale. ILM hopes to distribute these goods as soon as possible to the villagers accompanied by a gospel team to make known the love of Christ to the village of Htaw Pai.


	ILM staff Zaw Zaw meeting with Htaw Pai village head and villagers

Conclusion

Being one of the most isolated and forgotten villages, ILM is quick to meet the needs of these people. ILM is as concerned about their physical need as their spiritual need. Please join us in prayer for this village that they will all come to know the love of Christ.


	Htaw Pai houses donated by iLoveMyanmar

i Love Myanmar on Facebook

in Loving Memory of Baby Emmanuel