We received the following Tuesday from one of our Friends In Mission in Thailand, Partners Relief & Development, regarding relief efforts for those struck by the devastating cyclone in Burma. Please read it, and please give thoughtful, prayerful consideration to helping Steve and the people at Partners.
This afternoon our first shipment of food and shelter materials reached Rangoon. That means that 7 tons of rice and enough plastic sheeting to get 100 households under shelter from the monsoon rains will be distributed. In light of the need, this is a small drop in an ocean of suffering. But in light of the complications, the regimes blockades, and the inability of the world's governments to negotiate with the generals of Burma, it represents a miracle.
Another miracle happened today. One of our staff members was granted a visa to join the efforts in Rangoon. She is a trained tropical medicine practitioner who will join with our local partners in Rangoon to get aid through to those in desperate need. Praise God.
Staff Member Chris Dolan wrote the following article today. I hope that it moves you as it did me. More than anything else, I want to thank you for your prayers, your financial support, and for the encouragement so many of you have sent along to us as we struggle to make God's compassion a physical reality in Burma.
By Grace,
Steve Gumaer
Director, Partners Relief & Development
Swept Away
By Chris Dolan
Partners Team Coordinator and Development Specialist
Imagine seeing the ones you care most for in the world gradually tire, sink lower into the water and eventually lose the strength to hold on and be swept away. Envision in your mind's eye for a moment, watching your child's lungs fill with dirty, salty water and not being able to do anything to help. To add insult to injury, you have been cut off from the rest of the country (and the world, for that matter) by your own government, and forced to wait as food supplies get shorter, water more scarce, and the stench of decay stronger.
We received a report yesterday about a man just like this, who hung on to a tree in the floodwaters and watched helplessly as his wife and children were swept away.
On May 2, Burma, a country mired in poverty, oppression, and corruption, ruled by a brutal military regime, was hit by a Category 4 cyclone (hurricane) with winds of over 130 mph in it's Irrawaddy delta region, the country's rice bowl. Cyclone Nargis ravaged this farming region, and the devastation has been compounded by the slow, inefficient, and negligent response of the military regime. Local NGOs on the ground in Rangoon are reporting numbers now of over 150,000 dead, with the toll from disease and unrest rising higher and higher every day.
Soon after the cyclone hit, Partners was already sending in relief supplies, funds and communications equipment for the initial response. Since then, we have sent in tens of thousands of dollars donated by generous people like you and we have received substantiated reports that desperately needed food, shelter, water, and medicine have been purchased and distributed to those in the greatest need. However, the situation is getting worse as the Burmese government stonewalls while their people continue to suffer and die.
Please consider helping us help the people of Burma directly by donating today through our secure online donation site. As you are well aware, the situation is urgent and Partners has set up networks in both the delta region and Rangoon to provide immediate relief items. We need your help in order to see this through.
For every single story we receive, there are 200 more that never reach the light of day. For every survivor, there are 20 more who didn't survive. Visit our Partners blog for regular updates on what is happening on the ground and Partners ongoing response to this tragedy.
This afternoon our first shipment of food and shelter materials reached Rangoon. That means that 7 tons of rice and enough plastic sheeting to get 100 households under shelter from the monsoon rains will be distributed. In light of the need, this is a small drop in an ocean of suffering. But in light of the complications, the regimes blockades, and the inability of the world's governments to negotiate with the generals of Burma, it represents a miracle.Another miracle happened today. One of our staff members was granted a visa to join the efforts in Rangoon. She is a trained tropical medicine practitioner who will join with our local partners in Rangoon to get aid through to those in desperate need. Praise God.
Staff Member Chris Dolan wrote the following article today. I hope that it moves you as it did me. More than anything else, I want to thank you for your prayers, your financial support, and for the encouragement so many of you have sent along to us as we struggle to make God's compassion a physical reality in Burma.
By Grace,
Steve Gumaer
Director, Partners Relief & Development
Swept Away
By Chris Dolan
Partners Team Coordinator and Development Specialist
Imagine seeing the ones you care most for in the world gradually tire, sink lower into the water and eventually lose the strength to hold on and be swept away. Envision in your mind's eye for a moment, watching your child's lungs fill with dirty, salty water and not being able to do anything to help. To add insult to injury, you have been cut off from the rest of the country (and the world, for that matter) by your own government, and forced to wait as food supplies get shorter, water more scarce, and the stench of decay stronger.
We received a report yesterday about a man just like this, who hung on to a tree in the floodwaters and watched helplessly as his wife and children were swept away.
On May 2, Burma, a country mired in poverty, oppression, and corruption, ruled by a brutal military regime, was hit by a Category 4 cyclone (hurricane) with winds of over 130 mph in it's Irrawaddy delta region, the country's rice bowl. Cyclone Nargis ravaged this farming region, and the devastation has been compounded by the slow, inefficient, and negligent response of the military regime. Local NGOs on the ground in Rangoon are reporting numbers now of over 150,000 dead, with the toll from disease and unrest rising higher and higher every day.Soon after the cyclone hit, Partners was already sending in relief supplies, funds and communications equipment for the initial response. Since then, we have sent in tens of thousands of dollars donated by generous people like you and we have received substantiated reports that desperately needed food, shelter, water, and medicine have been purchased and distributed to those in the greatest need. However, the situation is getting worse as the Burmese government stonewalls while their people continue to suffer and die.
Please consider helping us help the people of Burma directly by donating today through our secure online donation site. As you are well aware, the situation is urgent and Partners has set up networks in both the delta region and Rangoon to provide immediate relief items. We need your help in order to see this through.
For every single story we receive, there are 200 more that never reach the light of day. For every survivor, there are 20 more who didn't survive. Visit our Partners blog for regular updates on what is happening on the ground and Partners ongoing response to this tragedy.
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