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Update: Myanmar Crisis

July 2008

Months after Cyclone Nargis tore through Myanmar, there are still villages that have not received the critical aid they need to sustain themselves. As victims of this latest catastrophe to hit Southeast Asia continue to suffer and die everyday, the UN reports that many relief organizations are still experiencing long delays in the visa application process. As a result, many donors in the western world have started to shift their giving to other causes in other countries, leaving the poor victims of this catastrophe to fend for themselves in the wake of their own government’s bureaucracy and corruption…

…But not you. Thanks be to God for you and others like you who have not abandoned the people of Myanmar in their time of most desperate need. Your gifts and prayers continue to make a real difference through the work of the Global Aid Network (GAiN), one of the few relief agencies that has been successful in pushing through government red tape to provide immediate disaster relief to some of Myanmar’s worst-hit areas.

On a recent trip to the Delta area, the worst affected region of Myanmar, Daniel Win, the CEO of GAiN Australia and project leader for the Myanmar Relief Project, reported that the situation there is almost unbearable: “The smell is overpowering. Many corpses lay rotting and unattended. Victims camp along the highway hoping that benevolent locals will throw food and aid out of their car windows. The Junta has set up relief camps, but they aren’t able to deal with the overwhelming number of people affected, so many are turned away. It is a desperate scene.”

As a Burmese expatriate who at one time held senior government positions within the former Burma (now Myanmar), Daniel found early favour with the current Myanmar government. His background and unique cultural knowledge enabled GAiN to quickly establish agreements to stabilize six regional villages in the Delta area. Work has now commenced on this regional plan thanks to your faithfulness and generosity. A 10-person logistics team has been established in Yangon, including a field operations manager who is currently overseeing the purchase and transportation of building materials and goods to the Delta region. These efforts will help an area covering approximately one quarter of the devastated region and help more than 30,000 people!

GAiN is also pleased to announce that the Myanmar government has recently granted them consignee status. This means that GAiN is able to distribute its own goods in-country, bypassing the usual government bureaucracy which inevitably stalls relief supplies from getting into the hands of those that need them. This is a major breakthrough and cause for celebration! Ten containers have already been shipped and distributed, with another six containers due to arrive in the coming weeks. Thanks to God’s favour, your gifts and GAiN’s strategic alliances, the victims of Cyclone Nargis will continue to receive the aid they need in a timely manner.

The Delta region of Myanmar has begun the long slow climb back from the brink of destruction, but much more will need to be done in the coming months and years in order to restore this area and its people back to full health. Your partnership has already made a real difference in the lives of real people, but thousands more continue to suffer without help, praying for someone to ease their pain. As you enjoy the fruits of your faithfulness and generosity today, perhaps you will consider continuing your partnership with GAiN and the Myanmar Relief Project. You are the miracle that they are praying for. Thank you for responding in love.

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