Myanmar: 'the horror and helplessness was hard to describe'

Over 2,800 lives have been lost in the earthquake near Sagaing and Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city. With rescue teams still recovering bodies from the debris, the death toll is expected to climb.

The scale of the tragedy, my Oxfam colleague in Mandalay told me, is beyond what they could have ever imagined. As buildings around her began to collapse, she could hear the cries of people running. She said it was impossible to describe the horror and helplessness she felt as she watched families desperately trying to escape the destruction.

Countless roads and buildings across the country have been destroyed, including schools, hospitals, water supplies and other vital infrastructure. Network and power lines are down, and people are cut off from essential services. More than a million people have been forced from their homes.

Among the ruins are places where children once learned and played. 25 miles south of Mandalay, reports emerged of a pre-school building reduced to rubble. Children’s backpacks strewn on the floor. Spidermen figures, those ubiquitous symbols of early childhood, were scattered around. Their owners gone. Little lives that had barely begun, lost in an instant.

In Sagaing, central Myanmar, mosques were reportedly full as people gathered for their final Friday prayers of Ramadan. The holy month was drawing to a close. Then, devastation struck. Three mosques crumbled - including the largest one. Almost everyone inside was killed.

Even before the earthquake, Myanmar was in crisis. More than 19 million people - over a third of the population - were already in urgent need of aid. Across the country, an estimated 3.5 million were displaced, many forced to survive in makeshift shelters, informal camps, or deep in the jungle, cut off from food, clean water, and basic services.

Sagaing, which felt some of the most violent tremors, was already bearing a heavy burden. It was home to 1.3 million displaced people, a third of all those uprooted in Myanmar. Now, the earthquake has made an already dire situation even worse. Millions more have been left exposed, their access to shelter, food, water, and medical care cut off.

When disaster strikes, the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) brings together 15 of the UK’s leading aid charities to respond - fast. Right now, we are on the ground in Myanmar, delivering life-saving aid to those caught in the aftermath of this devastating earthquake.

From the British Red Cross to Christian Aid, Islamic Relief to Oxfam, Save the Children to Tearfund, DEC charities and our local partners are working around the clock to reach survivors with emergency shelter, food, water, and medical care.

In the face of this unimaginable devastation, the people of Scotland have already shown extraordinary generosity. The DEC’s Myanmar Earthquake Appeal has raised an astounding £1 million here - an outpouring of kindness that offers a lifeline to those who have lost everything.

And every pound counts. Every donation from the British public will be matched by the UK Government through its UK Aid Match scheme, doubling the impact of every contribution, up to £5 million. The Scottish Government has also stepped forward in solidarity, pledging £250,000 from its Humanitarian Emergency Fund to help survivors rebuild their shattered lives.

On the ground, the situation is desperate. Our emergency teams are met with scenes of utter destruction: entire communities reduced to rubble, families searching for loved ones, children left homeless and afraid. Hospitals are overwhelmed, and survivors are sleeping outside, with nothing but the open sky above their heads. People are injured, hungry, and afraid.

This disaster has pushed already struggling communities beyond the brink.

But hope is not lost. Right now, despite the immense challenges, DEC charities and our local partners are delivering life-saving aid where it’s needed most.

With your support, we can do more. If you can, please donate to support the hundreds of thousands of people caught up in this deadly disaster.

Together, we can help families survive today and rebuild tomorrow. Please, give what you can. Every pound could mean the difference between life and death.

Give now: dec.org.uk

Jamie Livingstone is Head of Oxfam Scotland and spokesperson DEC Scotland’s Myanmar Earthquake Appeal.