Burma Update - May 2010

Weaving Safety Nets

Dana for Water, Education, Orphans, and Villagers

As we begin a cycle of offerings, we invariably learn of many projects that need support.
Sometimes people approach us directly with requests, and at other times we hear of worthy projects
from friends who know of the work we do. So in addition to our regular offerings, we provide
support to many of these other worthy causes. It’s a wide range of offerings, with our intention
being to better the quality of life and the futures of as many beings as possible.

Water Projects
Nargis Villages
In the last two years, we’ve offered rice,
oil, and medicines to a number of
villages in the Irrawaddy Delta. Now,
almost two years after Cyclone Nargis, it
was clear that the kinds of offering we
had been making were no longer the best
way of offering support to the people
whose lives were turned upside down by
the storm.
But we knew that people there were still
had serious needs that were unmet, and
so we wanted to continue our support for
these communities in some way.
Houses in Dedan Village, Irrawaddy Delta.
We already knew that he most pressing Water, water evereywhere, and not a drop to drink!
need was for safe and reliable sources of
drinking water. It’s ironic that in an area where there’s so much water, decent drinking water is in
such short supply. But the net of innumerable rivers and channels that surround these villages are
often too brackish to be potable. The closer to the coast one gets, the more likely this is to be the
case: in these areas, the rivers are tidal, full of sediment and mixing with ocean water.

In the rainy season, people use large clay

vessels to hold catchment water from their
roofs. But in the higth of the dry season
this is obviously not a an option. Wells in
these areas are prohibitably expensive and
unreliable: one has
to drill hundreds of
meters down, and
even then there is no
Water catchment in the rainy season guarantee of striking
pure water.
The more we learned, the more we wanted to use some of the dana you
offered for water projects in these areas, and in a way that would benefit to
the most number of people.

So we visited Father Cyril, a Burmese Catholic priest who runs an NGO

called Shwe Thahar. After Nargis, Shwe Thahar did a great deal of relief
work in coastal villages in the Laputta area, providing homes and boats for
whoever needed them, regardless of religion. He confirmed that drinking Father Cyril
water is still an urgent need. In the year after the storm, NGOs provided receiving the
bottled water; now the people only have pond water. The salinity level is offering
high, so there’s a general shortage of potable water (especially in the dry
season).
Shwe Thahar is building new ponds in these villages so that when it rains they will fill with good
water. They’ve also built 12 Ferocement catchment tanks. The technology is from the Philippines,
and they train and hire local people to do the construction themselves. So the villagers derive
economic benefit as well as health benefit from these tanks. Each one holds enough water to last
200 families through the dry season. I knew this kind of tank well: in parts of Hawaii, they’re a very
commonly used catchment system, known for their reliability, longevity, and for being quite
economical. So we offerred dana which will be used to build another 9 water tanks at a cost of
about $500 each--enough for 1800 families.

Upper Burma
Not long before we were to leave Yangon to
travel to Sayadaw U Indaka’s village, we
were asked for assistance by the abbot of a
monastery in Sadaung, a market town of
about 10,000 people not far away. He was in
the finishing stages of building a hospital that
will serve the town and 80 villages in the
region, but there was just one remaining
challenge: potable water. We learned that
there’s a very good well built by a Japanese
NGO that supplies the drinking water for the
town; unfortunately it’s a mile and a half The hospital in Sadaung
away! So everyone goes down the road on
foot, or with their oxcarts, motorbikes, or cars to collect water; the hospital would have to do the
same thing.

On our way to Thaleba, we were given a tour of the impressive and very modern new hospital. And
when asked if we could help by funding a water pipeline to supply both the village and the hospital,
we immediately agreed to consider the proposal.

From well to user…a long and dusty road

Fortunately, we were accompanied on our trip by Ite Wiersma, who works

in the agricultural sector in Holland. Because he knew the necessary
technical considerations, he could thoroughly examine the plans. And after
his questions about design and construction were answered satisfactorally,
we were very happy to agree to fund the project.
The cost was an astoundingly modest amount: only about 7000 USD! The
experience reminded us how much more a relatively small amount of cash
Drinking water: a
can do in Burma as opposed to in the West--where a similar sort of project
universal need
can cost in the millions of dollars! And with that 7000 dollars 10,000 people in the town (and the
80,000 people in the surrounding villages who will be served by the hospital) will have clean water
to drink.

Support for Children

Orphanages
Happy Haven Humanitarian Project (HHHP)
Once again this year, we were happy to be able to
make a generous donation to Happy Haven
Humanitarian Project: 10 Lakh Kyat, about 1000
USD. HHHP runs an Orphanage on the Eastern
fringes of Yangon that takes in children who face the
most unfortunate of circumstances: they’ve lost
parents to HIV, but they are also HIV positive
themselves.
After we made our offering, we were showed around
the carefully maintained grounds. Since we had been
there last, they had completed a new dormitory
building, and inside the kids were playing, taking
The impeccable grounds of HHHP
classes, or (if they were very little) being cared for by
the kind and compassionate staff.
In the sunny playroom, there was a rambunctious passel of kids, doing
what comes naturally to kids anywhere. One little girl came shyly up to
Daw Ariya Ñani and whispered something in her ear. Seeing the wide
smile in response, I was curious to know what sort of fantastic girlish
secret she’d just been told. But it turned out to be no secret, but a shyly
rendered little song, just for Daw Ariya Ñani!

Next door in the classrooms, the older children were hard at work at their
lessons, in this case English. The words from the copy book of one
young man were immensely poignant--about a friend in Yangon who he
must now miss.
The youngest children here are barely out of diapers, and the
oldest are in their early teens. These kids live with the most
unfortunate of circumstances, and under normal circumstances,
they would simply be ‘thrown out’, ostracized by society-at-
large.
But instead they receive love, care, education and medicine:
everything that is necessary for their welfare and well-being.
The staff are devoted to the children, and do everything they
can to make sure that they get as ‘normal’ an upbringing as
possible.
School is in session at HHHP When we left, a small crowd of boys (shown on the cover page
of this message) jammed together by the window, competing
with each other for the best place to say goodbye. Their energy and eagerness (no different from
healthy kids anywhere) spoke volumes to us about the care and skill that goes into making sure their
lives are well supported.

Sittwe Orphanage
Last year, when we passed through the West coast town of Sittwe on our way to Mrauk Oo, we
learned of a poor orphanage that needed support, but we were unable to visit because of a lack of
time. So this year when Marjo Oosterhoff was again in Sittwe, she brought dana to offer. As is very
common here, the orphanage is run by one of the local monasteries, providing social support that
would otherwise be completely absent. The 5 Lakh Kyat (about 500 USD) that she offered will go a
very long way to keeping food on the table for the many children that live there.

Education
Sittwe School for the Blind
Marjo also learned of a school for the blind in
Sittwe run by the monks of another local
monastery, so she went to find out about the
work that they do, and to offer a donation of 5
Lakh Kyat. During her visit, she was given a
demonstration of how the students use braille
tablets for writing. Blindness is a huge challenge
anywhere but particularly here, where many
blind people have no education and so are
forced to subsist by begging. The students here
may have an uncertain future, but they are most
fortunate to receive a good education, with the
A Braille lesson for Marjo head-start that it provides.

Helping Hands Scholarship Project

School attendance is compulsory in Burma, and there are state-sponsored schools in most villages
and neighborhoods that are theoretically free of charge. But there are hidden costs that make
education a luxury for many. One must pay a small (to us) fee, buy uniforms, books, and school
supplies. Students may also require extra after-school tuition, because the poor conditions in many
schools make learning difficult. Many teachers rely on the extra income that this private tuition
brings, as they are paid next to nothing for their regular work.
All of this adds up to between 10,000 and 20,000 Kyat per child per
school year, about 10 to 20 USD. When the average daily wage for a
‘good’ job being about 1000 Kyat, a family can be faced with the
heartbreaking decision to keep one or all of the kids out of school.

A remarkable effort on the part of a Canadian school teacher in

Yangon is helping hundreds of children stay in school. Glen first
noticed that 6 kids on his street were not attending classes because of
poverty, and so paid their tuition out of his own pocket. Now 7 years
on, he has a number of local volunteers who canvas neighborhoods
and arrange for school attendance of any children whose families
cannot afford the costs. The number of kids being offered scholarship
support has gone form the original 6 up to over 600--and this year
Glen’s volunteers are going to shoot for 1000! We were very happy to
give 4 Lakh Kyat to his efforts, knowing that somewhere in Yangon
All dressed up and ready to
this coming school year, 20 to 26 kids would be receiving an
roll! Boys in their school
education because of your generosity.
uniforms.

Village Dana
From time to time one of the monks at CMMC will tell us of something they’ve noticed when out
on their alms-round--perhaps a crippled child, or a house that’s in very poor condition. Or we
discover that a lay helper at the monastery is struggling with a difficult living situation. We always
consider making an offering in these situations, if the need turns out to be genuine and necessary.
This year we made a couple of offerings like this,
totalling about 25000 Kyat. One of these was a
window into a world that we had only read about.
We had given one of the monastery helpers some
cash to replace the thatch roof on his house. When
it was finished, he invited us over to show what had
been done, and to express his gratitude.
We arrived at his little house in the late afternoon
and were invited inside by his wife, who rather
shyly went back to tending the cooking fire outside.
Over (extremely sweet!) beverages, we were
introduced to his daughter, who works in a garment
factory out on the main road, not far from the
monastery.
U Shwe Hla and his wife in front of their
She’s very house – with the new thatched roof
grateful for the work because it means she can bring home
30,000 Kyat (about 30 USD) per month: which is all she gets
for working 12 hours per day, 6 days per week--with only a
half hour break for lunch and 20 minutes or so for tea late in
the afternoon. While they sew, the workers are not allowed to
talk. But it’s a good job, and she feels happy to have it. For us,
hearing this story was a sober reminder of a reality that lives
just under the surface appearance of things for many people
here in Burma.

When we reflect about the number of people who have

directly benefitted from your generosity this year, it brings us
much joy. In large or small ways, you have made it possible
U Shwe Hla and his daughter for countless people to have some of the basics that we all
take for granted: a drink of fresh water, a roof that keeps the rain out, medical care, education, a
home for those who have lost parents… list goes on and on.

Burma is a land of great beauty and natural wealth, but it is also a place where most people have no
access to that wealth, and live with the day-to-day grind of poverty. Under these conditions, the
Burmese people themselves have stepped in to create a remarkable grass-roots safety net: singly or
in small groups, monks, nuns, and many laypeople provide the social services that are not otherwise
provided. We feel immensely grateful to be able to participate through your offerings in the weaving
of a small part of this safety-net. Somewhere in Burma today, your donations are making a life
easier. Somewhere in Burma today, who knows where, there is man or a woman or a child, chanting
a blessing for you, in gratitude and joy for a life saved.

Daw Virāñāṇī
Chanmyay Myaing Meditation Centre