LETTERS FROM BURMA

I have been forwarded a few emails coming out from people who are currently in Burma or who have contacts on the ground there currently. I have posted these below. They give a description of what is going on there and share their great concerns for the coming weeks as the government continues to refuse foreign aid. There are also several suggestions about how you can make a donation.

Dear All,
If you are interested in helping Burma, read below from someone we know on the ground in Burma. David Tegenfeldt was born in Burma to missionaries, he raised his family there, and has dedicated his life to working for the Burmese people. He suggests donating to HOPE international, and I feel confident this money will be used to help the people of Burma.
Julie

Hope International
From: DavidT@mail2Hope.comSubject: Re: Relief for Burmese PeopleDate: Wed, 7 May 2008 03:43:35 -0700
As we had feared, initial reports from the affected areas seem to be reporting deaths in the 10s of thousands. I wouldn't be surprised if the final death toll is in the 6 figures. The island of Pyinsalu alone lost about 90% of its 40,000 population. Severe diarrhea is being reported from two townships, with fears about cholera being present.
We just helped organize and resource a local partner with 50 staff going out as mobile medical teams to these areas. They are taking along chlorine concentrate for making safe drinking water, clothes, money to buy food, and medicines. They also have doctors (including surgeons) and nurses along for treating patients. They will be conducting assessments in areas they can access and determining how to best assist in the future. One of our HOP E staff - Nyaw Nyaw - is going with them and will be leading the assessments and helping think about future activities with these communities. They will report back in one week.
David>
<-----Original Message----->
Dear Friends, As you have heard on the news, the situation in Burma is getting worse each day following Cyclone Nargis. It is like a war zone there and the food supplies and fresh water are predicted to run out by the end of the week. The army troops that once surrounded the city during the protests last year are nowhere to be seen in most townships. Power will probably not be restored for 20 days- the storm hit most power and phone lines. Lucky people are relying on generators for power but the price of fuel has risen to $10 a gallon this morning. The price of food as well as supplies like candles are doubling and many are homeless. Families are living in monasteries and the International School Yangon where I once taught also has people living there that have lost homes. The U.S. and E.U. have pledged aide but the Burmese government has not officially accepted their offer. The best way to filter money into this country that has no banking system, no federal reserve, corrupt government officials and few foreign NGOs isthrough private individuals... My good friend XXX is the XXX at XXX and she has already started cashing personal checks with the XXX (which may be one of the few sources of hard currency in th e city right now) to buy supplies for people. Two years ago her father started a non-profit through his church in Minnesota in order for the faculty to support a Burmese student who we managed to get out of the country in order to attend college in Minnesota. Funds can be channeled through this non-profit. XXX will continue to use these funds to purchase food, water and fuel for those in need. You are assured that every penny will go to assist the Burmese people. His contact info. and address is highlighted below if you can encourage people to send checks from U.S. bank accounts in any amount. Please read the forwarded email below from a parent of a former student who is an aide worker in Yangon. The damage is terrifying and unlike anything that we will ever be able to imagine.
Please keep these devastated people in your prayers,Scott OskinsScott,Thanks for responding. It is most expedient to send contributionsto me:

Pastor Duane Semmler
786 S. Andrew Dr. NW
New London,
MN 56273
USA

and make the checks out to: Tripolis Lutheran Mission fund (memo - for Myanmar relief)

Date: Sun, 4 May 2008 12:42:55 +0630
Dear all,
We are safe here in Yangon, after the cyclone hit here overnight during May 2/3. We have no electricity, no phone (for the moment), etc, but we are healthy and still have most of our roof over our heads. We have had no news of what actually took place here in Myanmar in terms of Cyclone Nargis - only the evidence we can gather on our own - large portions of roofs taken off houses, huge trees uprooted, 10 of our windows blown out, one window ripped from its hinges and sent hurtling to the ground, and a piece of sheet metal roofing that came from a house 100 meters away that flew into XXX's bathroom window at one point in the storm. Judging by this, we assume that when the cyclone hit Yangon, it was at least level three-possibly level four category. Based on what appeared to be the main directions of the wind at various points during the storm, w e assume it passed to the south of us. If the devastation we see around us in our neighborhood is any indicator, we can only assume the very worst about the much less affluent and well-fortified communities along the cyclone's path from the Bay of Bengal and frankly, onward to the Thai border. Word of mouth indicates another storm is possibly on the way, but we don't know what type of storm, or if it is even true. Word of mouth also indicates the townships around the heart of Yangon have been flattened. We have no way to verify this at all, although the idea of townships being flattened seems very much in keeping with what we'd expect from what we personally experienced. Food prices have doubled in this area in the day since the storm and judging by the state of trees and plants around here, that's probably very warranted - it's hard to imagine many crops or animals in the vicinity surviving very well. We also anticipate that there will be a huge amount of burning starting up in the next day or so, as people clear the trees and debris from their neighborhoods and 'get rid of it' the way they know best. Several trees in the neighborhood went down on top of houses or across the road. All the power and phone lines are down. So what happens? The neighbors all get together with their machetes around the nearest downed tree and start hacking away to clear it. People get out and try to reconnect their own telephone lines. A sort of do-it-yourself FEMA. I can't imagine how people even begin to rebuild if everything around them has been flattened. I managed to get in some extra drinking water, rice, dog food, cooking fuel, candles, etc., before the storm, so we have some basics to tide us over- don't worry. Sorry about this group email. Only a few of our family and friends are receiving this, and then we're hoping you can pass along news to others who you notice haven't heard. Thanks. I am writing it on a laptop without a lot of battery left. Aung Kyaw, our gardener, is going to try to reconnect the phone line and we'll see if it works - if so we can try to se ndthis out to you, if there's internet. Lots of ifs.I'll send photos when I can. -Love, XXX


Hey Guys,
I only have a minute on a computer that actually has internet but I wanted to let you know that I am ok. It is pretty bad though. In a few days all the people will be out of water and food will follow shortly after. They are saying no electricity for maybe a month. I am still planning on coming home at the end of May. Until then, any prayers you can send our way would be great. My dad is also starting a mission effort through his church to get money to those who need food and water. Love you and can't wait to get home!XXXThis message is from XXX in Myanmar. Because of the category 4 hurricane that hit Yangon on May 3, we wanted to send a message to all of our family and friends to let you know that we are all safe. There have been no physical injuries to any of us but there is substantial structural damage to homes and to the school. The school is providing water, food and shelter to those of us who need it. The city of Yangon is trying to cope the best that it can. Phone and internet connections are very limited into and out of the country. This email has been generated and sent through the XXXX. Please do not reply to this email. We are accessing the situation at school and in our homes to formulate a plan for the next days and weeks. We will try to contact you as soon as we can but please know that it may be a very long time before internet connections are restored.You can help us by emailing and phoning anyone that may be wondering how we are as we are only able to send to a limited number of emails.
Again, PLEASE DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS EMAIL
We send our love,
XXX


Subject: More from XXX in Myanmar>
Date: Tue, 6 May 2008 07:16:41 +0630
Dear All,
Another opportunity to send an email to you from the XXX office in Yangontoday, so we're taking advantage. Don't know what you have started to hear by now. Update at UNDP yesterday had lots of very bad news. Because the cyclone went farther south than expected, it stayed over water and therefore maintained strength and hit several townships, including Mawlamyine, which was never predicted. On the way, it significantly destroyed 8 townships (think of them as large counties) where the loss of human life is currently estimated to be between 90-95%. Beyond the eight townships suffering the worst, the outlying town ships around metropolitan Yangon were also hard hit, with current estimates indicating at least 40-45% of the population is now homeless. The government is saying 958,000 homeless, 12,000 dead in two places alone. The government tends to understate these things, based on past history.The struggle for people in the rural townships is clean drinking water, shelter, food, medical attention, etc. The government is going to support UN and others to provide relief efforts, although not to Yangon - it isn't a priority. We expect local teams of aid workers to be able to be mobilized starting as early as today and definitely by tomorrow, heading as close to the hardest hit townships as possible and shuttling with smaller 4WD vehicles if possible. Having large trucks to transport supplies is one of the huge challenges. The Townships nearer around Yangon are already receiving some assistance, but not on the scale required. As for metropolitan Yangon, the big issue will be access to water - any water. The main pumping station for Yangon (and apparently a couple of the auxiliary stations) were severely damaged and there's no estimate yet of when that can be back up running. People are already removing water from the lakes, ponds and swimming pools. There is also no estimate when electricity will be restored to run the pumping stations once they are fixed. Naturally, this is quickly making for a potentially terrible disease situation in the urban and periurban areas. Telephone is also still out most people, although we have sporadic coverage on our cell phone. Most landlines are down. Places with generators can get CNN, but generators require fuel, and last night we drove past a line to the closest (rationed) petrol/diesel station and saw cars lines up for half a mile, camping overnight so they could be the first in line in the morning to get fuel... Markets are closed and shopkeepers who do have supplies are raising prices very high. There is rumor of looting that has begun, although that has to be confirmed today. What does this mean for us? We're without running water and power, just like most people, and we're now going to have to rely on rain to restock our water supply, since we don't have a well. We still have drinking water and so on, so we're fine that way. It is likely that the embassies will start allowing voluntary departure for dependents this week, at which time XXX’s school will be likely to close… Please pass this message along if you see someone missing on my small distribution list. Thanks a lot. We know you are thinking of us and of the people here. Love
XXX

Date: Wed, 7 May 2008 10:31:20 +0630
Dear All,
Today we are getting the details pulled together to help send out a team of 50 local medical volunteers to head to the worst hit townships and see what the needs are and try to take care of some of the worst injuries. This team will travel with portable surgery suites, generators, medicines, etc. that have been built into small buses. They will go with 4WD vehicles to scout the road ahead and also to carry people from remote areas to the buses. The initial time they will be gone will be 7 days according to the current plan. Then they will come back with the information gathered from the first trip, reprovision and head out again. We have huge concerns about this, even though obviously it needs to be done. We just heard this morning that the Pyinsalone area of Labutta township has (so far unofficial) counts of around 40,000 people dead - this info comes from the World Food Program team that has been operating in the area since the tsunami at the end of 2005. Bodies are floating in the mouths of the Ayewaddy River and are being picked up by steamers operating in the area. This poses a major public health crisis for the area, for the health team and for the rest of the country. We have learned from other situations how traumatized aid workers can become when they are confronted with death and destruction on this type of a scale. So naturally we are very concerned about the people we will be helping to send into this area, and have tried to prepare them for the effect this experience may have on them. We ourselves can't travel to these areas, primarily because our presence would draw off resources from others, and we'd just be there to understand the situation first hand, not to actually help with the medical care.
Personally, we continue to operate without any electricity since Friday night. We don't have running water, but we have two outside ground tanks that are fairly full, so we are rationing our water usage quite tightly so that we don't run into a crisis. We still have a couple weeks of drinking water if we ration that carefully as well. It is available, but very expensive. We've had trouble sleeping for most nights so far, but once we get tired enough, we'll be able to sleep regardless of heat, humidity or the buzz of a baby boom of mosquitoes. Braedan completed one of his advanced placement exams yesterday and has another one next Tuesday. He has tended to want to stay with friends who live in serviced apartments, because those places are still running the generators at night, making lights and fans available. Yesterday, he finally seemed to recognize on his own that he is going to wear out his welcome as the costs of those serviced apartments goes up and as the services they can provide drop. The school has planned for a hasty and less than impressive graduation ceremony to be held next Tuesday late afternoon at the school. The parents of seniors are trying to meet this afternoon to provide something else for the kids to make it a bit more memorable. This is the first class in the school's history that won't have a graduation, prom, etc., so the kids are feeling a bit down about that, despite also being very aware of the circumstances surrounding this turn of events.Gotta run. More later. Hope you are all doing well.Love,
XXX

Dear Comrades,

I just spoke with Dennis MacKinnon at International School of Yangon. He asked me to share the following with you. Yangon housing and infrastructure have been terribly damaged. For example, there is no water with concomitant concerns about typhus and other water born diseases. All students, staff, and family members survived although one staff spouse who was in the delta is not accounted for. The school has been damaged. No classes are being held and it is being turned into a community relief center. There will be brief closing ceremonies on Monday and Tuesday after which teachers and students will be leaving. Dennis is confident that school can reopen in August. I asked him what assistance ISB could offer. We discussed some possibilities and he will get back me.

Bill