Help Myanmar

SCIAF wants to thank its supporters for donating a staggering £146,000 to help the survivors of Cyclone Nagris in Myanmar [Burma] following our recent emergency appeal.

SCIAF’s church partners in the country are still working hard to get life-saving emergency aid and support to the communities left devastated by the cyclone.

SCIAF’s partners are now using over 30 trucks and three river barges to carry aid supplies to the flooded areas. Hundreds of volunteers are helping to give out food and provide medical care to those who are ill or injured.

SCIAF’s local church partners have already distributed food, medicines, plastic sheets and blankets to over 11,000 people. A second phase of operations will see the distribution of mosquito nets, kitchen utensils and temporary shelters. SCIAF is also providing support to a further 26,000 people in the affected Yangon and Irrawaddy region.

The official government figures now state that 77,700 people have died and 55,900 are missing. Aid agencies think the real death toll is nearer 200,000 people.

The people of Myanmar still face great difficulties – the price of rice has doubled and the price of cooking oil has tripled since the cyclone struck. This means that many families can no longer afford to buy enough food to feed their families.

Also, only a few weeks are left before the rice planting season begins. It will be a race against time to provide seeds and tools to farmers so they can plant next year’s rice harvest, which helps to feed millions of people.

Thank you.

8th May 2008

[Updated 6th August 2008]