Daw Dhein is in her late seventies, yet she remains strong in the face of an uncertain recovery from the ravages of Cyclone Nargis. As she stands beside the river in her village of Pan Phu Myit Tan, her focus is now on her grandson, Min Aung Thu.

Just nine months old, he lost his mother when Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar in May 2008. "My greatest hope is that my grandson lives," says Daw Dhein as the baby continues to suck on a near empty bottle of condensed milk. "He is sick now. I will do anything for him."

Min Aung Thu's uncle works as a fisherman in a nearby village and provides Daw Dhein with a small amount of money from his earnings to help with some of what the baby needs. His support is a start, but clearly it is not enough. The baby's father remains unable to work. In addition to the physical challenges faced by both the grandmother and her grandson, the emotional trauma has been devastating as well.

During the storm

"The water was over our heads," Daw Dhein remembers. "During the storm, Min Aung Thu's father saved my grandson. He was floating in the river when he grabbed his son and put him as high as he could on a tree branch. The baby's mother was separated and now she is gone."

You can almost read the sadness and the exhaustion in this woman's sun-aged face, but Daw Dhein is eager to reclaim control over her own life and to play a part in the recovery of her village as well.

"The food and support we receive is important, but we need to take care of ourselves and I am ready to work," she says as she looks down at the baby. "I just need a boat and a net, and I too can fish for myself and for others here. Maybe, then, we will be okay."

Genuine gratitude

This resilience is echoed by others in Pan Phu Myit Tan village. There is genuine gratitude for the support provided by the Myanmar Red Cross Society (MRCS), the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), and other agencies that offered humanitarian aid in the Ayeyarwaddy delta.

However, the overwhelming sentiment on the part of those in this village is that they must find a way to meet their own needs for the future.

Toward this end, the MRCS and the IFRC have implemented livelihoods programmes that enable communities like this one to generate revenue through the strengthening of river banks, environmental clean-up, the rebuilding of small bridges in impacted villages, and other similar projects that solve both immediate and longer term problems.