Local woman helps in midst of devastation
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Playing softball in Myanmar
On May 2, 2008, the country of Myanmar caught the attention of the world when a massive tropical cyclone devastated parts of the country.
Cyclone Nargis is the worst natural disaster in the recorded history of Myanmar. Experts said winds topping 90 kilometers per hour ripped through the county's largest city for at least 10 hours.
Tens of thousands of people were killed and many more are still missing. Despite the death and devastation, pockets of hope still flourished.
"We were actually in and around the capital city of Yangon, and that is north of where the major part of the cyclone hit," Wendy Yantis said. "The most affected part was the delta, near the southern tip of Myanmar."
Yantis is the Southeast Asia representative for Sports Life. Her team teaches softball to youth and adults in poor and underdeveloped countries. Their last trip was to the Third World country of Myanmar. Wendy said they arrived just weeks after the deadly cyclone.
"In Yangon there were a lot of visible effects from the cyclone--just huge trees completely uprooted," Yantis said.
She said when they packed up to go, her team did not know if they were even going to be working on softball development or helping with relief efforts.
"We did a mix of softball, trauma counseling, we got to help at an orphanage, so we did a whole mix of things," Yantis said.
She said Myanmar is slowly trying to develop softball and baseball as national sports, adding this is the second time she has been invited to help teach the game.
"When you do that, you really get to know people super well," Yantis said. "We work with the same group of girls everyday."
In the midst of the devastation Yantis said it was hard to think about sports, but she said it was still important to her team.
"It really provided a relief for them, something for them to do in the midst of a lot of craziness and difficulty that they are going through," Yantis said. "Sports can provide normalcy during troubled times."
She said she will never forget her days in Myanmar and the relationships she made.
"Over and over again the gals that we worked with said, 'Please do not forget us. Please do not forget Myanmar.' "
Yantis said she plans to go back for a third visit with her family sometime in the fall.
