Cyclone Nargis

Photo Courtesy of Christians Concerned for Burma

“They have never seen anything like this before.”

In the absence of exact words, this was the most precise expression a witness could say to describe how shocked the Cyclone Nargis victims were.

It’s almost a week now since the extremely severe cyclonic storm Nargis hit Burma (Myanmar) on May 2, 2008, leaving an estimated “60,000 people dead or missing” and millions of settlers homeless, according to Philippine Daily Inquirer. This count is even smaller. A Wiki entry has this: “…the final total of fatalities ranging up to 100,000.”

Amidst political issues brought by the recent take over of a military junta, Burma is facing more serious problems — catastrophic effects that seem to have just started. This time, bigger and greater. Reports say decomposing dead human bodies are found everywhere, towns are submerged in deep floods, fallen trees are blocking major roads and highways, and the military government is refusing international aids. There are also millions of people with no access to clean water, not to mention the soaring prices of rice, cooking oil, medicines, and other basic necessities.

Who wouldn’t be strongly affected by this news? I was appalled but not surprised.

We need not to become environmentalists to say that this is how bad our nature can take its revenge — unforgiving, inconsiderate. But our surrounding has just no choice. And the term revenge, inappropriate. It’s us who made this happened. Perhaps, if mother earth could only talk, she’d say, “I hate this to happen, but it’s inevitable. Climate Change, heard it? It’s a common symptom I’m dying, and you, my beloved people, are causing it. My immune system is just trying to fight back what it thinks is a major disease. It’s releasing a kind of defensive cells in the form of cyclones, hurricanes, storms, and polar-caps-melting heat. It’s not too late though. If you make your small share, I could still live, or at least have a longer time to provide you with a safer shelter, free from human-induced natural disasters. Can you do your obligations to save me? Can you commit yourselves to make Environmental Awareness happen?”

Let’s be united in our answer: Yes!