Myanmar's Buddhist monks fill cyclone aid void

By Aung Hla Tun

KUNTHECHAUNG, Myanmar (Reuters) - With a loudhailer in one hand and a clipboard in the other, the bespectacled Buddhist monk calls out names from a long list of villages devastated by Cyclone Nargis.

One by one, maroon-robed monks in the crowd milling round the make-shift relief centre put up their hands before coming forward to accept a carefully measured quota of food for his village.

Welcome to emergency aid delivery, Myanmar-style.

With foreign agencies on a tight leash and only a trickle of relief coming in from the military government, the Buddhist monkhood has become a major conduit for help to the 2.5 million people left clinging to survival in the Irrawaddy delta.

Given the monks' unquestioned moral authority in the devoutly Buddhist southeast Asian nation, private donors are happy to see the shaven-headed men in maroon taking charge of goods brought down to the delta in rickety trucks, vans and boats.

"It gives us great pleasure and joy to see our donations transferred directly to the beneficiaries," said Ko Myo, a young businessmen from Yangon, the former capital. "That's all we expect out of our contribution. Nothing else."

Outside the tent, dozens of monks and villagers wait their turn patiently. Many sit in the boats that will take the needed supplies back to their shattered communities.

Praise for the senior monk, or Sayadaw, who established the relief centre is universal.