Relief In Time For Mother's Day

BROOKSVILLE - The phone line crackled, barely alive, but it was enough.

After four anxiety-filled nights, Dr. Kelli Maw reached her uncle in Yangon, the capital of Myanmar, and heard the words she was waiting to hear: Her family members there, including her 76-year-old mother, are OK.

"I was going out of my mind," Maw recalled Friday, two days after the phone call that brought so much relief.

Not only are her family members fine, but their homes had suffered surprisingly little damage from the cyclone that hit May 3. The storm and ensuing tidal wave has claimed more than 20,000 lives; there are fears that figure could reach as high as 100,000.

Maw, 49, is a native of Myanmar (formerly Burma) who now lives in Land O'Lakes. She earned her medical degree from the Institute of Medicine in Yangon, and came to the United States 16 years ago. She has worked as a physician at the Hernando County Health Department for seven years.

Maw declined to comment on the government and the political climate surrounding it.

The military junta that runs the country, bookended by India, China and Thailand, has been roundly criticized for its suppression of democratic activists and many of its residents are afraid to speak openly for fear of retribution by the government.

Since the storm, international relief workers and governments from around the world have been frustrated by the junta's refusal to allow access to the country.

But Maw was willing to offer a glimpse of what life is like for her mother.

She lives in home surrounded by high walls, barbed wire and bars on the windows. The "compound," as Maw described it, has a well and electrical inverter, which comes in handy because electricity is rationed and "even in the best of circumstances" the outages are almost a daily occurrence, she said.

The provisions, she said, are "for disasters exactly like these."

Both of Maw's parents were professionals in the community; her father died two years ago, and now Maw sends money back to help support her mother.

Maw's family still didn't have electricity Wednesday, but did have water and some food, she learned. Her uncle lives within a mile or so of her mother. While there was some flooding in the neighborhood, the area is on higher ground and appears to have been spared the worst, Maw said.

But for nearly a week, she had no way to know that. Maw made calls to friends around the world, from Canada to Malaysia to Dubai, to find out if they'd heard about their family and with hopes she might get at least a scrap of information about her own.

On Wednesday, she was shocked but relieved to reach her uncle. The conversation over the tenuous connection line lasted about 10 minutes. The phone line to her mother's house is evidently still down, she said.

Maw said she is appreciative of the outpouring of compassion from friends and acquaintances here in the United States. She is directing them to worldvision.org, a non-profit Christian organization that Maw knows is reputable because a former schoolmate is a director there and is already in the country.

"I'm just hoping the aid organizations reach them," she said.