YIEC Goes to the Delta

Memebers of our Team with Sayadaw

Truck Two Heading to Khun Chan Gone in the Delta Region

Aftermath Photo

As most

3rd trip to Khun Yangon

of you know, Yangon and the Irrawaddy delta were hit by a cyclone, with huge devastation across the country and city. Due to the chall enging circumstances, YIEC had to close early, however we have still mobilized to help.

We have had an amazing response from teachers, parents, students, and the overseas family and friends of teachers. There is such difficulty in getting money into the country, that many fr

Homeless People Living in Khun Yangon

iends and family overseas have pledged money, and teachers have covered this pledge out of their own money, so that we can get the money and help to the affected people as quickly as possible. So far, our fundraising efforts have put us at over $25,000, and we are looking at possibly $30,000 by the end of the week!

So what are we doing with all of this money? In a nutshell, we’ve been transforming money into food, water, and shelter, and finding ways to transport these goods to those who need them.

So far we’ve bought and distributed:
135 bags of rice
400 five liter bottles of water
Several sacks of beans, onions, potatoes
28 boxes of instant noodles (Yum Yum variety)
2 large bags of dried fish, several cases of canned fish
145 blankets
Many tarps for temporary roofs, and other building supplies
Liquid Waterguard and iodine for purifying water
Medical supplies such as re-hydration salts, vitamins, antibiotics, plasters (Band-Aids), etc.
Shoes and other clothing items, and we’ve also given several bags of donated clothing
Pots, plates, cups for cooking
Candles, lighters
and the list goes on…

We’ve worked with a variety of people to help make this happen. In the beginning we coordinated with a dynamic woman who rented boats and took trucks and just drove down the road to find people who needed supplies. We also worked with the Myanmar Compassion Project, completing a long-planned orphanage visit, with an updated wish list for their needs after the cyclone. In some cases, people we know came to us asking if we can help them with certain items to add to their truck loads, and we gladly try to help them in any way we can.

Then we joined up with Gitameit, a music school in Yangon that is under the umbrella of the Foundation for the People of Burma. Gitameit has transformed from teaching vocal and piano to coordinating a relief effort for cyclone victims. They formed teams of students and other volunteers (including medical) to go out to specific areas, find out what the people need, and then bring them what they need. Then they return to the areas, always adjusting the supply list to their current needs, and trying to help people to return or rebuild their homes and livelihoods. So we’ve formed a YIEC team, with YIEC staff and students, and we have adopted a community in Kunyangone as our focus (see Map).

This community is about two and a half hours south of Yangon. There, we were able to locate a monastery that is off the main road and found them to be in great need of our help. About 2-3 hundred people are taking refuge there and they are depending on the donations from people like us for their survival. Even worse off, living upstairs in the same monastery, which currently has no roof (so it rains inside the building), are a group of about 50 men, women, and children who have lost basically everything. The cyclone swept them away from their village and nothing remains where they once lived. Most have lost some or all of their family and they are now left as a group of orphaned children, widowed husbands and wives, with nothing more than the clothes on their back. They are a high priority and we are working closely with them to provide the materials and the means to rebuild their homes, their livelihood, so they can gradually begin their lives again.

Our hope is, using the monastery as our focal point, to help put all these farmers and fisher-people back on their feet so they can become self-reliant again. All of our donations are going toward this effort, and we are in it for the long-term. Hopefully as we help these people, we can then circle outward from the monastery and help more and more people in the villages surrounding. We have already begun this process by supporting the Sayadaw (Head Monk) of the monastery in delivering several bags of rice, noodles, blankets, etc. to three of the villages that are located between 20 min. and 1 and a half hour boat ride from the monastery.

We plan to write more in the coming days on this blog, but first we would like to take this opportunity to express our deepest gratitude for the overwhelming support we have received from everyone who has donated their time, money, clothes, material objects, and support. All the YIEC teachers, assistants, families and friends have really pulled together to help and we're proud to be a part of this extended community. Thank you for all your efforts and support!!

Where we're helping