Dar Dar said she lost her father, a fisherman, in the cyclone, and now she feels she must sacrifice her future to take care of her young siblings. She is not alone: the heavy economic burden left in the wake of Nargis has caused many other girls from her village to become sex workers

Two years have passed since Cyclone Nargis struck the Irrawaddy Division. According to estimates, the cyclone killed 140,000 people, destroyed 450,000 houses and left 800,000 people homeless. Many survivors have yet to return to normal lives; they continue to face economic and other hardships such as lack of farmable land, potable water and proper shelter. In the two years after the cyclone, many farmers have been forced to to abandon their land, and fishermen to abandon their nets, to work as day laborers for their daily survival.

Ma Thida, 24, from Sit-Twe village, Laputta Township, said that the hard living conditions after Cyclone Nargis have driven people to take any job available. "Before I worked as a laborer, carrying bricks in Three-Miles Myo-Thit,” she said, spitting out betel-nut juice. “But I ended up working at the massage parlor nearby. Owners of farms and salt production and fishing businesses come to ask for our services at their work-sites every week or 10 days. Then I can make a lot of money," Ma Thida said, adding that other regular customers include farmers who lost their wives in the cyclone.

Three-Miles Myo-Thit is a new town established on the outskirts of Laputta, which Cyclone Nargis relief money helped modernize. As the town became more crowded, investors started opening pubs, karaoke bars and massage parlors offering the sexual services of young girls. The town is now filled with these establishments and has become a magnet for girls desperately seeking jobs and money. "There were no such massage parlors or karaoke bars before, so there were only a few girls in the sex business,” said a Laputta businessman. “Now there are many more, and the town has becomes a sort of designated place for them. Of course they won't make as much money as they make in Rangoon." For that reason, many women in desperate straights head to Rangoon to work in the sex business.

The Irrawaddy 2010.05.03