Friday, August 1, 2008

A NARGIS VICTIM WOMAN OPENS HERT


The U.N. food agency says more than 100,000 fishermen have been affected and some 50,000 acres of fish ponds destroyed.

The storm also destroyed boats, nets, jetties and processing plants, crippling a top export revenue earner in one of the world's poorest nations.

The Myanmar government says it plans to build more than 9,000 boats and provide fishing nets to speed revival of the industry.

But even if those tools eventually make their way to fishing families, many no longer have the hands to do the job.

"In fishing families, there is a tendency for the men to be the providers. In the event that fishermen are killed, their families are in a far more difficult position than farming families," said Steve Marshall, the U.N. International Labor Organization representative in Myanmar.

This leaves families like Tin Tin Latt's with a great burden and uncertain future.

Some will have to wait until their surviving children grow up before they can take up their traditional occupation.

"I am afraid my only son will become a fisherman his whole life, following my husband," said the 33-year-old widow.

"I don't want him to be killed by a storm like his father."

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