Role of social transformation in community recovery from Cyclone Nargis: Case of Kun Thee Chaung Village, Myanmar

Cyclone Nargis is considered the worst natural disaster to have occurred in Myanmar. One of the severely affected communities, Kun Thee Chaung village in Bogale Township in Ayeyarwady region, received donated facilities and infrastructure in the postdisaster period; however those facilities are unused 5 years later owing to the lack of techniques transferred and lack of channels for maintenance. Although international agencies urgently conveyed their donations and projects into the affected communities, less attention was paid to the long-term recovery at the village level; therefore the effectiveness of the recovery has not yet been observed. Thus the aim of this chapter is (1) to identify the transformation of the donated facilities in long-term phase in a remote community, and (2) to analyze the effectiveness of recovery efforts in long-term recovery. The key findings observed are that acknowledgment by the new legislation empowered community-based organizations, and paved the way for science-based policy-making in a remote community.