Vast Humanitarian Disaster In Burma

Here’s an update based on an email I received from a long-time Burma activist, Edith Mirante of Project Maje.

Cyclone Nargis inundated Burma's densely populated Irrawaddy Delta, destroying entire towns and villages. The storm killed tens of thousands of people, left homeless as many as a million, and destroyed infrastructure in the largest city, Rangoon.

Now the country is dealing with serious shortages of drinking water, food, and shelter. Diseases such as cholera are not far off. Compounding the disaster are the wacky regime's deliberate delay of international emergency assistance, and the past few decades of deforestation. Things won’t get better fast; the Delta area was Burma's primary rice growing region.

Links for information and disaster relief donations are below. The groups listed appreciate and will make good use of any contribution, even small amounts. As one way to deal personally with this tragedy, I recommend organizing a small benefit event such as a concert, reading, art sale, dinner, or film show. Invite your friends, family, co-workers, or community and send the proceeds to a relief aid group. Children often have excellent ideas for such events.

I plan to celebrate my fourth cycle birthday at the end of this month with a fundraiser for Burma. Two cycles ago, when I was 24, warfare along the Thai Cambodian border led to the creation of huge refugee camps where Jip and I eventually worked. So we’ve seen the difference that a concerted, well-organized, and well-funded ongoing relief effort can make. That kind of effort isn’t happening in Burma at the moment, but perhaps if enough of us act, we can make the situation there a teeny bit better.

I know that these are hard economic times everywhere, but I hope that you will consider making some contribution to the relief effort, either on your own or by making others aware of the effective donation options available.

DONATIONS for disaster relief can be made via these organizations:

** Medecins Sans Frontiers (already distributing emergency aid in affected areas)

** Medical Emergency Relief International (already bringing aid to the Delta)

** Thirst-Aid (water purification is an urgent priority)

** Avaaz.org (special fund via Burma's Buddhist monks)

** MercyCorps (experienced disaster relief experts with local partners)

For constantly updated INFORMATION, see these news sources:

BBC News

The Irrawaddy

Mizzima News

US Campaign for Burma (also accepting disaster relief donations)