The following is from Spencer Kerrigan, National Director
Partners Relief & Development, USA ...
My full-time work with Partners first began with a significant decrease in pay. I had departed a comfy corporate career, complete with all the trimmings. I wasn't sure how I was going to weather this challenge. Would I be able to make ends meet? Would I have enough left over for a new home project, college tuition, Starbucks?
This job was a sacrifice. Or was it?
Two months into my position, a powerful storm, Cyclone Nargis, slammed into Burma and destroyed large swaths of land in the Irrawaddy Delta. Well over 130,000 people lost their lives. Millions of acres of land were ruined. Thousands of children lost one or both parents and whole communities were blotted out.
The event was catastrophic.
The Burma government defied the international community by refusing aid, blocking supplies from getting to desperate villagers, and doing very little to preserve lives. By all accounts, it appears they deliberately sabotaged the relief effort.
Partners immediately mobilized to deliver aid to the suffering. To date, our team has done the following:
● Sent in 15,000 lbs of Vitameal for food needs
● Sent in 100 rolls of plastic sheeting for shelter
● Sent in 800 heavy-duty tarpaulins
● Sent in 250,000 packs of PuR water purification solution which will provide drinking water for more than 23,000 people
● Sent in 34 UV water filters each with the capacity to provide clean drinking water for 1,000-2,000 people per day
● Sent in 9 Katadyn ceramic water filters each with a 26,000 gallon filtering capacity
● Sent in several hundred pounds of clothes
● Provided and helped facilitate more than $300,000 USD worth of food, shelter, medicine, transportation costs, and communications equipment
● Helped initiate and fund the Delta Network, comprised of more than 120 brave men and women who risk their lives to enter the delta region and bring relief and hope
● Helped create a disaster response network with an NGO on the ground in Rangoon to coordinate fund transfers, relief distribution and communications
Brave men and women risked and continue to risk their lives to transport and deliver medicine, food, shelter, and hope to stranded victims. They are heroes. They could not have delivered practical gifts of love were it not for those of you who generously gave. Literally, thousands of lives have been saved. Thank you.
In spite of the tragedy in the Delta, we have received reports of atrocities continuing in Karen State, Burma. The Burma Army has stepped up attacks on unsuspecting villagers in Walakee. The following was reported by one of our staff:
Villagers from the surrounding areas have come to the border. [The] villagers fear forced [military] portering, being used as land mine sweepers, and the extortion of money. Currently 49 families are along the border and in need of supplies. Villagers were told by the DKBA [a proxy army of the junta] that if they did not return to their villages, they would destroy their rice and corn fields. That day we sent the following: 150 blankets, 150 mosquito nets, plastic, rice, sardines, salt, oil, chiles, cooking pots, and lighters.
Though becoming the National Director of Partners USA has presented certain challenges for my family and I, they pale in comparison to the moms and dads who huddle right now with their children in hide sites in the jungle. These 49 families have literally had their entire world ripped from them - homes, land, livelihood, and in many cases, loved ones. It is likely they will never know the indulgences of our world. Those refinements are simply not to be found in a conflict zone. Its apparent to me that a decrease in my comforts, such as a healthier retirement plan or a fancy coffee, cannot be labeled sacrifice. It's a matter of perspective.
Your partnership with our work is vital. If you would like to immediately help these families, please click here.
We are grateful you continue to stand by us as we strive to love vulnerable, courageous, beautiful people. We simply could not bring emergency supplies and hope to dark, troubled places without your prayers and support.
In the journey,
Partners Relief & Development, USA ...
My full-time work with Partners first began with a significant decrease in pay. I had departed a comfy corporate career, complete with all the trimmings. I wasn't sure how I was going to weather this challenge. Would I be able to make ends meet? Would I have enough left over for a new home project, college tuition, Starbucks?
This job was a sacrifice. Or was it?
Two months into my position, a powerful storm, Cyclone Nargis, slammed into Burma and destroyed large swaths of land in the Irrawaddy Delta. Well over 130,000 people lost their lives. Millions of acres of land were ruined. Thousands of children lost one or both parents and whole communities were blotted out.
The event was catastrophic.
The Burma government defied the international community by refusing aid, blocking supplies from getting to desperate villagers, and doing very little to preserve lives. By all accounts, it appears they deliberately sabotaged the relief effort.
Partners immediately mobilized to deliver aid to the suffering. To date, our team has done the following:
● Sent in 15,000 lbs of Vitameal for food needs
● Sent in 100 rolls of plastic sheeting for shelter
● Sent in 800 heavy-duty tarpaulins
● Sent in 250,000 packs of PuR water purification solution which will provide drinking water for more than 23,000 people
● Sent in 34 UV water filters each with the capacity to provide clean drinking water for 1,000-2,000 people per day
● Sent in 9 Katadyn ceramic water filters each with a 26,000 gallon filtering capacity
● Sent in several hundred pounds of clothes
● Provided and helped facilitate more than $300,000 USD worth of food, shelter, medicine, transportation costs, and communications equipment
● Helped initiate and fund the Delta Network, comprised of more than 120 brave men and women who risk their lives to enter the delta region and bring relief and hope
● Helped create a disaster response network with an NGO on the ground in Rangoon to coordinate fund transfers, relief distribution and communications
Brave men and women risked and continue to risk their lives to transport and deliver medicine, food, shelter, and hope to stranded victims. They are heroes. They could not have delivered practical gifts of love were it not for those of you who generously gave. Literally, thousands of lives have been saved. Thank you.In spite of the tragedy in the Delta, we have received reports of atrocities continuing in Karen State, Burma. The Burma Army has stepped up attacks on unsuspecting villagers in Walakee. The following was reported by one of our staff:
Villagers from the surrounding areas have come to the border. [The] villagers fear forced [military] portering, being used as land mine sweepers, and the extortion of money. Currently 49 families are along the border and in need of supplies. Villagers were told by the DKBA [a proxy army of the junta] that if they did not return to their villages, they would destroy their rice and corn fields. That day we sent the following: 150 blankets, 150 mosquito nets, plastic, rice, sardines, salt, oil, chiles, cooking pots, and lighters.
Though becoming the National Director of Partners USA has presented certain challenges for my family and I, they pale in comparison to the moms and dads who huddle right now with their children in hide sites in the jungle. These 49 families have literally had their entire world ripped from them - homes, land, livelihood, and in many cases, loved ones. It is likely they will never know the indulgences of our world. Those refinements are simply not to be found in a conflict zone. Its apparent to me that a decrease in my comforts, such as a healthier retirement plan or a fancy coffee, cannot be labeled sacrifice. It's a matter of perspective.
Your partnership with our work is vital. If you would like to immediately help these families, please click here.
We are grateful you continue to stand by us as we strive to love vulnerable, courageous, beautiful people. We simply could not bring emergency supplies and hope to dark, troubled places without your prayers and support.
In the journey,
Spencer Kerrigan
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