Wednesday, July 23, 2008
1. We are now focused on assisting four villages: 1 in Shwe Pau Kan, 1 in North Dagon, 2 in Dala. A 5th village may be added if manpower and funds are available and is currently being evaluated.
2. The food distribution program is now reduced, as expected, as people get back to their jobs and on their feet. However, we are still assisting about 2,000 families that we have observed to be still in destitution.
3. This month we started our rebuilding and reconstruction program in >a systematic way. In the past, we have provided ad-hoc emergency funds for simple repairs. This program involves rebuilding houses for about 300-500 families. Each bamboo and thatched house costs USD 200. We have started with 20 houses last week and as we learn from this experience, we hope to finish this rebuilding project by the end of the year.
4. As the rainy/monsoon season comes to an end in September, we expect the need for clean water to be more crucial. In each of these villages, we hope to provide wells that can be used by the entire community. This is not an easy task and finding good water sources can be risky and expensive. We will be working in consultation with other NGO's for this project.
5. In all this, besides helping lives and impacting the community, our final goal is to strengthen the existing churches and to plant churches in areas where the Lord opens the way. We hope to engage these communities for the long-term.
6. A more detailed "masterplan" is currently being prepared and will be ready by end-July. We can send you one if you want it but it will contain many details that may not be relevant to you. Pls let me know.
Once again, thank you for your trust and partnership with us in these efforts.
2. The food distribution program is now reduced, as expected, as people get back to their jobs and on their feet. However, we are still assisting about 2,000 families that we have observed to be still in destitution.
3. This month we started our rebuilding and reconstruction program in >a systematic way. In the past, we have provided ad-hoc emergency funds for simple repairs. This program involves rebuilding houses for about 300-500 families. Each bamboo and thatched house costs USD 200. We have started with 20 houses last week and as we learn from this experience, we hope to finish this rebuilding project by the end of the year.
4. As the rainy/monsoon season comes to an end in September, we expect the need for clean water to be more crucial. In each of these villages, we hope to provide wells that can be used by the entire community. This is not an easy task and finding good water sources can be risky and expensive. We will be working in consultation with other NGO's for this project.
5. In all this, besides helping lives and impacting the community, our final goal is to strengthen the existing churches and to plant churches in areas where the Lord opens the way. We hope to engage these communities for the long-term.
6. A more detailed "masterplan" is currently being prepared and will be ready by end-July. We can send you one if you want it but it will contain many details that may not be relevant to you. Pls let me know.
Once again, thank you for your trust and partnership with us in these efforts.
Friday, July 11, 2008
June 30th, 2008 - June Report for Distribution of Food to Cyclone Nargis-affected Areas
In the month of June, four food distributions were made in Dala on June 2, 9, 16 and 23. In North Dagon, two food distributions were made on June 11 and 18. A total of 115 bags of beans and 320 bags of rice were distributed. The total purchase price was Ks 96,37,500 (Kyats Ninety Six Lakhs and Thirty Seven Thousand Five Hundred). The total expenses related to the distribution was Ks 1,51,800 (Kyats One Lakh Fifty One Thousand Eight Hundred).
Total cost of distribution was Ks 97,89,300 (Kyats Ninety SevenThousand Eighty Nine Thousand Three Hundred). Average USD exchange Rate for the June: 1150 Kyats for USD 1
Total Cost in USD: 8,513 (US Dollars Eight Thousand Five Hundred and Thirteen). As mentioned in the previous reports, focus is now given to two villages in Dala; two villages in North Dagon and one village in Shwe Pau Kan. Starting in July we will start assisting in rebuilding projects in Dala. The authorities have issued letters to instruct that unauthorized makeshift shelters built on the side of the roads must be moved back. These shelters were built on the side of the roads with higher ground to avoid the flood waters. Together with the village authorities we will assist with the rebuilding of more permanent houses for those unable to do so on their own. Most likely, these houses will be to the same standard as their original homes, i.e. thatched roof, bamboo walls and wood structures. The estimate for each house is Ks 3,00,000 (approx USD 260.). In the month of June, Ks 125,05,500 (approx USD 10,874) was spent on rebuilding the house church in Shwe Pau Kan. This project has been given priority and, upon completion, is projected to cost a total of Ks 220,00,000 (approx USD 19,130).
Total cost of distribution was Ks 97,89,300 (Kyats Ninety SevenThousand Eighty Nine Thousand Three Hundred). Average USD exchange Rate for the June: 1150 Kyats for USD 1
Total Cost in USD: 8,513 (US Dollars Eight Thousand Five Hundred and Thirteen). As mentioned in the previous reports, focus is now given to two villages in Dala; two villages in North Dagon and one village in Shwe Pau Kan. Starting in July we will start assisting in rebuilding projects in Dala. The authorities have issued letters to instruct that unauthorized makeshift shelters built on the side of the roads must be moved back. These shelters were built on the side of the roads with higher ground to avoid the flood waters. Together with the village authorities we will assist with the rebuilding of more permanent houses for those unable to do so on their own. Most likely, these houses will be to the same standard as their original homes, i.e. thatched roof, bamboo walls and wood structures. The estimate for each house is Ks 3,00,000 (approx USD 260.). In the month of June, Ks 125,05,500 (approx USD 10,874) was spent on rebuilding the house church in Shwe Pau Kan. This project has been given priority and, upon completion, is projected to cost a total of Ks 220,00,000 (approx USD 19,130).
Monday, June 16, 2008
LATEST UPDATES FROM OUR CHURCH IN YANGON.................
On May 26th and May 30th, a total of 10 metric tons of rice (200 sacks of 50 Kg each) were bought for distribution.
An interim oversight committee has also been formed to help with advice on strategy and spending to ensure effectiveness and accountability.This committee consists of members from NGO's including World Vision and World Concern.
Through Myanmar Compassion Project (MCP), an organization focused on providing care to children/orphans in Myanmar, we also hosted in our facility last week a seminar conducted by Crisis Response Training and Networks Asia (www.crtnasia.org) to give Biblical focus and practical tools to our church-based efforts in providing relief now and reconstruction later to the Nargis-affected areas we are helping.
As mentioned in the previous report, we are now focusing our weekly distribution in areas that we already have village churches or in villages we hope to start a new ministry. This strategy enables us to provide sustained contact with the people receiving assistance. For the long-term we believe this will give the most meaningful results. Our people on the ground can provide other types of assistance including simple counseling and spiritual guidance.
In June, our efforts will continue to be mainly in food distribution (we have already assisted over 10,000 families so far). This will shift to reconstruction assistance in July where we hope to assist at least 600 families. It is encouraging that close to half of our church members have also been involved in one way or another in our relief efforts.
This week approximately USD 500 was disbursed for house repairs to about 5 people.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Approximately USD 81,000 (SGD 110,000) has been raised for our Emergency Mynamar relief which has gone directly into helping the local people affected. The funds have enabled rice to be distributed to over 6000 households now and about 4000 of these will receive weekly distribution over the next four weeks.
Update on 25 May 2008:
On 20th May, a total of 10 metric tons of rice (200 sacks of 50kg each) was bought. In addition, we also bought 5 sacks of beans, 50kg of dried fish, 1000 litres of cooking oil, 5 sacks of onions & salt, totaling USD 5004.
The distributions were done equally in 2 areas: Dala & Kun Gyan Gon.
Kun Gyan Gon is about 3 hours south of Yangon. This was one of the most badly hit areas. We no have the means to access this area which was restricted earlier.
In Dala, we will embark on a strategy of focus on unassisted areas. The village of Ta Gyi in Dala consists of 850 houses. More than 60% were destroyed. This was a poor community before the cyclone and is now a mess of temporary thatched structures. There is no church or house church of any kind in the entire village. Until today, no government assistance has been given to them. Although the village authorities were initially resistant to our assistance, they are now welcoming us wholeheartedly. We plan to continue to provide emergency assistance to the village immediately and in the mid-term to assistn with rehabiliation and reconstruction projects.
Next week, we will deliver one more time to the Shwe Pau Kan and North Dagon areas. There have been many good testimonies of how our efforts have brought much favor from the authorities and community in those areas.Approximately USD 3500 have been distributed for house repairs to about 10 people.
Update on 18 May 2008:
On 5th May, a total of 15 metric tons of rice (approx USD 6386) was bought. This translates to 300 sacks, each sack weighing 50kg. We distributed to 2500 households with each household receiving 2 to 3 "pyis" (about 6kg) which is sufficient supply for about 3 to 4 days for a family of 4 people.
Friday, May 16, 2008
OTHER NEWS FROM THE WEB..........
KUNGYANGON, Myanmar, May 16 (Reuters)
The rows of beggars on either side of the road stretched for miles, twin columns of human misery left by the winds and waves of Cyclone Nargis.
Without clothes or shoes, the thousands of men, women and children made destitute by the cyclone could only stand in the mud and rain of the latest tropical downpour, their hands clasped together in supplication at the occasional passing aid vehicle.
Any car that did stop was mobbed by children, their grimy hands reaching through a window in search of bits of bread or a t-shirt.
The desperate entreaties expose the fragility of the claims by Myanmar's military government to be on top of the distribution of emergency relief in the worst-hit Irrawaddy delta, where up to 2.5 million people are now clinging to survival.
They also make all the more questionable the reclusive junta's refusal to admit large-scale foreign aid operations and the workers to run them.
That refusal is motivated by fear the operations might threaten the generals' grip on power in a country that has known only military rule for the last 46 years, critics say.
Aid volunteers were shocked by the roadside scenes, which suggest conditions in the delta are deteriorating rapidly with what little rice and food that could be salvaged from the ruins of inundated villages now running out.
"The situation has worsened in just two days. There weren't this many desperate people when we were last here," one relief volunteer said.
In the storm-struck town of Kunyangon, around 100 (60 miles) southwest of the former capital, Yangon, the situation was little better, even though the former Burma's military rulers have started distributing small amounts of emergency food there.
"I am one of the few survivors," said one lady in her 60s, who did not want to be named. "I came here to ask for some rice."
Her clothes -- a grubby grey top and faded black longgyi, or sarong -- are the same she wearing when the May 2 storm struck, sweeping away her home and possessions.
"I only survived by climbing a tree," she said.
Around the town, the countryside remains a mess of half-submerged trees, snapped electricity pylons or bamboo poles -- the skeletal remains of a house -- leaning at crazy angles.
Villagers say they are slowly burying the bloated corpses of friends and relatives that have littered the rice fields for the last two weeks. But the stench of death remains.
PRIVATE AID
Frustrated by the speed of the official response, ordinary people were taking matters into their own hands, sending trucks and vans into the delta with clothes, biscuits, dried noodles, and rice provided by private companies and individuals.
"There are too many people. We just cannot give enough. How can the government act as if nothing happened?" said one volunteer, who declined to be named for fear of reprisals.
Some said pro-regime thugs were even harassing volunteers in the western suburbs of Yangon.
Soldiers at military checkpoints leading out of the city were seizing digital cameras from aid volunteers to try to stop news leaking out to the outside world, others said.
With almost total distrust of the government, private aid is being left in the care of Buddhist monasteries, to be distributed by the monkhood, whose immense moral authority makes it the only institution capable of standing up to the military.
Going through the roll-call of the needy is a grim task.
"We need to give aid to this family," said one monk pointing to a list in a temple in one village.
"No," another monk beside him interjected. "They're all dead." (Writing by Ed Cropley; Editing by Jerry Norton)
The rows of beggars on either side of the road stretched for miles, twin columns of human misery left by the winds and waves of Cyclone Nargis.
Without clothes or shoes, the thousands of men, women and children made destitute by the cyclone could only stand in the mud and rain of the latest tropical downpour, their hands clasped together in supplication at the occasional passing aid vehicle.
Any car that did stop was mobbed by children, their grimy hands reaching through a window in search of bits of bread or a t-shirt.
The desperate entreaties expose the fragility of the claims by Myanmar's military government to be on top of the distribution of emergency relief in the worst-hit Irrawaddy delta, where up to 2.5 million people are now clinging to survival.
They also make all the more questionable the reclusive junta's refusal to admit large-scale foreign aid operations and the workers to run them.
That refusal is motivated by fear the operations might threaten the generals' grip on power in a country that has known only military rule for the last 46 years, critics say.
Aid volunteers were shocked by the roadside scenes, which suggest conditions in the delta are deteriorating rapidly with what little rice and food that could be salvaged from the ruins of inundated villages now running out.
"The situation has worsened in just two days. There weren't this many desperate people when we were last here," one relief volunteer said.
In the storm-struck town of Kunyangon, around 100 (60 miles) southwest of the former capital, Yangon, the situation was little better, even though the former Burma's military rulers have started distributing small amounts of emergency food there.
"I am one of the few survivors," said one lady in her 60s, who did not want to be named. "I came here to ask for some rice."
Her clothes -- a grubby grey top and faded black longgyi, or sarong -- are the same she wearing when the May 2 storm struck, sweeping away her home and possessions.
"I only survived by climbing a tree," she said.
Around the town, the countryside remains a mess of half-submerged trees, snapped electricity pylons or bamboo poles -- the skeletal remains of a house -- leaning at crazy angles.
Villagers say they are slowly burying the bloated corpses of friends and relatives that have littered the rice fields for the last two weeks. But the stench of death remains.
PRIVATE AID
Frustrated by the speed of the official response, ordinary people were taking matters into their own hands, sending trucks and vans into the delta with clothes, biscuits, dried noodles, and rice provided by private companies and individuals.
"There are too many people. We just cannot give enough. How can the government act as if nothing happened?" said one volunteer, who declined to be named for fear of reprisals.
Some said pro-regime thugs were even harassing volunteers in the western suburbs of Yangon.
Soldiers at military checkpoints leading out of the city were seizing digital cameras from aid volunteers to try to stop news leaking out to the outside world, others said.
With almost total distrust of the government, private aid is being left in the care of Buddhist monasteries, to be distributed by the monkhood, whose immense moral authority makes it the only institution capable of standing up to the military.
Going through the roll-call of the needy is a grim task.
"We need to give aid to this family," said one monk pointing to a list in a temple in one village.
"No," another monk beside him interjected. "They're all dead." (Writing by Ed Cropley; Editing by Jerry Norton)
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