Two weeks ago, I watched a Red Cross earthquake simulation in a classroom in Sagaing township in Myanmar. You can see the children in the picture below. They scrambled under tables at the sound of the siren and then left the room in an orderly fashion to an agreed safe zone - leaving no one behind. It is likely that this school and many of these children's homes were damaged or destroyed last Friday. I pray their knowledge kept them safe. After the school, we visited monasteries that were hosting thousands of people who had been displaced by violence. Again, you can see them in the picture below. They had lost everything - their farms, their homes, their way of live. They survived thanks to the hospitality of monks and neighbours. News is still coming in, but it seems many of these monasteries were damaged or destroyed three days ago. The women and children that I met will be on the streets now - if they were lucky enough to survive. Today, @ifrc will launch its emergency appeal to support as many people as we can. The most urgent need will be water. Power is down. The heat is relentless. There is nothing to drink. We won't be alone in this effort. The local community will be doing everything it can to support. International assistance will pour in for a while to back that up. @ifrc will coordinate with @MyanmarRedCross and @ICRC to deliver the best collective response we can. This will save lives, and it is our priority. Then in a few weeks, this story will fade from the news, the international solidarity will dry up, and the affected communities will still be there, without homes or livelihoods. Our appeal will anticipate this and will place a heavy emphasis on supporting people to recover. Over the coming days, the magnitude of the destruction caused by this earthquake will become clearer, but we already know enough to say that some of the most vulnerable people in the world have just be dealt another giant blow. It is time to stand alongside and support them.