Victims of Cyclone Nargis in a village in Nga Pu Taw Township are facing an uphill task in rebuilding their lives. The trail of destruction left many dead and swept away belongings, said an aid worker who went there.

Shwe Tauk village was founded 45 years ago with salt and prawn industry being set up. But after the May 3 cyclone all the farms were destroyed and a majority of workers killed.

The village had eight large salt farms, six prawn units with at least 90 workers in each salt farms and 60 in the prawn farms.

"The villagers have been unable to restart work," said the aid worker who distributed rice to 88 families in the village.

"The Investors moved to other villages and many villagers did not return to the village after they moved to town to access aid,'' he added.

Now villagers are rebuilding their homes and struggling to survive. Villagers took out salt water from the wells for reuse, the aid worker was told.

A majority of the victims were farm workers living on low land, according to a villager. About 70 workers died in the U Maun Win salt farm, 54 died in U Khin Shwe and 47 in U Mae Lon.

Only one home was left standing after the cyclone hit. Currently about 1000 people live in the village. They have are sheltered in two primary schools one of which has to be rebuilt.

According to the aid worker a majority of villages nearby face a similar situation. They face enormous difficulty in restarting work in the salt and prawn farms.