Irrawaddy Delta

For two days the lesson has been on the Irrawaddy Delta. The Irrawaddy Delta is home to the wetlands and rice fields of Myanmar (sometimes called Burma).

Excerpt from the lesson:

But the people have a big task, too. They have to live in harmony with the vast changes Mother Nature brings to this area. The area gets over 100 inches of rain each year during the monsoon season, between May and November. The rest of the year the area is dry and cool. During this time, farmers gather the weeds that grow in the delta. They weave mats from these reeds. But this may hurt the natural flow of the water. Sometimes, the beautiful mangrove trees that protect the wetlands are cut down. People may need this wood for fuel, but it also sets up a dangerous chain of events. When wetlands disappear from the coast, the land beyond the wetlands is more easily harmed by storms

The lesson continued with pointing out the devastating effects of wetlands being destroyed. Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar last year, May 2008.

To introduce the girls to the people of Myanmar and, to understand their suffering from such a storm, we went to YouTube.