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Myanmar Relief Update
Stefan's Field Report
Part Two 13-5-08

Stefan Radelich was able to contact the FTH Australia office and give an update on current relief efforts.

Arriving early Tuesday he was able to make good connections immediately. He was really impressed with the quality of people involved on the ground at one of the largest independent churches in Myanmar. They had established 32 church plants before the disaster, but unfortunately Ps. Mung has only been able to contact with 12 of them in the days after the disaster. Stefan was not confident how many had tragically been killed in the disaster and how many were simply missing.

The church has already conducted three distributions among the 17 provinces of Yangon. Each distribution would give 2000 families enough rice for 3 days. These food distributions were purchased with funds from the churches own funds. These funds have long since been exhausted.

Yangon the largest city affected by the cyclone has reportedly returned to a functioning state of normalcy with shops reopening for business. He does note that military check points prevent access to roads to the heavily affected Delta region.

The Delta region is flooded with storm water, but it actually has contaminated all fresh water with salt. They are struggling for the kind of clean water that Stefan can help provide through the purifying pumps he brought in. They will be of immediate use if he can get them into the affected areas. He is hoping he can train local FGA team members in their correct usage and begin operations among the survivors, and bring more through the next shipment.

Rice and other food items seem to be readily available at reasonable prices in Yangon. Stefan is recommending for the next few days that food should continue to bought in country rather than pay for the shipping from Thailand. However basic building materials and items helpful for emergency shelter have skyrocketed. In some cases they are five times more expensive than pre-cyclone prices. FTH will look at helping to relieve these supply problems.

Stefan mentioned reports of people migrating away from the disaster areas and heading to remote villages in the hope of finding food and shelter. They are creating of their own accord what the United Nations calls an IDP or Internally Displaced People camps. This could actually create additional pressure on the villages because they themselves have no resources to help - but are compelled by compassion.

Stefan is continuing to coordinate with other NGO's and the UN representatives that are in country to find the best ways to bring in more aid supplies, and to make sure it gets to the people who need it the most.

Since our inception in 1987, FTH has always operated as a CHURCH to CHURCH humanitarian organization. FTH endeavours to raise funding in the western or first world and distribute among churches in the third world or in this case the disaster areas.

This not only helps ensure that food is correctly distributed, but also helps build the local church in the community, and therefore gives the local Christians an opportunity to share the Gospel through their acts of kindness.

FTH is continuing to seek emergency donations from Christians and Churches who have plenty to spare and therefore can share. Please contact us to send your best donation to help bring Christ into this situation and end this terrible catastrophe.

Please click here to make a donation.

Myanmar Disaster Relief Update
Stefan's Field Report Part 1
13-5-08

I arrived in Yangon on schedule; miracle after miracle to get in here with the gear carried. I’m aware of a reportedly a little progress on the macro scale (UN, large NGO's) day by day, but we can do much on the ground through the indigenous church here. First day has been very productive in gathering information and assessments from various sectors.

Our partner church on the ground, one of the largest independent churches in Myanmar, has deployed about 50 staff pastors to 17 sectors in Yangon Province. They have a decent distribution network in place to villages in a 2 hour radius of Yangon. They've bought rice & water to this point. Their funding has run out but they will be getting funds from various outside sources as other NGO’s recognize them as a practical distribution point.

Potable, safe water is a big issue... dysentery is starting to break out in several areas. Tomorrow we're going out to two areas with the water purifiers to do some on the job training with a few Full Gospel guys who will be responsible for training others on how to set up a village water filling station, and how to operate and maintain the machines.

FTH will buy two more units so that the church in Myanmar has 4 which can then be used by water brigade teams to service several sites every couple days. I really like how the church is responding and the excellent quality of people committed to the relief work.

Malaria is the number one killer in Myanmar followed by diarrhoea under 'normal' conditions -- not relating to the cyclone. So with the unbelievable amount of standing water covering this whole area, malaria outbreaks are also now occurring.

The Vortex water units is a key to addressing the diarrhoea issue, and will buy 1,000 family-sized mosquito nets which we can have treated in pyrethrum for .06 cents each... these family sized nets are quite large and are meant to cover several people as they customarily sleep close together on bamboo mats.

The Convoy of Hope NGO have been working on the overland transport of supplies from Thailand to Myanmar and will attempt to send a truck this week. If that goes well FTH will be able to piggy-back on their inroads to move bulk disaster relief supplies across the border as part of the extended project recovery.

Rice is still affordable here in Yangon, so it wouldn't pay to transport rice, but building materials like zinc sheeting and roofing nails are ridiculously expensive, they’ve increased almost five times since the storm hit.

I continue to meet with other NGO’s in country and with UN reps to see how we can be more effective with the narrow avenue of opportunity here in Yangon. It is very important to act now with as generous a gift as possible because it'll be put to work right away.

Click here to donate to the Myanmar Disaster Relief

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	Please click here to make your donate now! Click here to return to home page myanmar disaster relief Myanmar Relief Update Stefan's Field Report Part Two 13-5-08 Stefan Radelich was able to contact the FTH Australia office and give an update on current relief efforts. Arriving early Tuesday he was able to make good connections immediately. He was really impressed with the quality of people involved on the ground at one of the largest independent churches in Myanmar. They had established 32 church plants before the disaster, but unfortunately Ps. Mung has only been able to contact with 12 of them in the days after the disaster. Stefan was not confident how many had tragically been killed in the disaster and how many were simply missing. The church has already conducted three distributions among the 17 provinces of Yangon. Each distribution would give 2000 families enough rice for 3 days. These food distributions were purchased with funds from the churches own funds. These funds have long since been exhausted. Yangon the largest city affected by the cyclone has reportedly returned to a functioning state of normalcy with shops reopening for business. He does note that military check points prevent access to roads to the heavily affected Delta region. The Delta region is flooded with storm water, but it actually has contaminated all fresh water with salt. They are struggling for the kind of clean water that Stefan can help provide through the purifying pumps he brought in. They will be of immediate use if he can get them into the affected areas. He is hoping he can train local FGA team members in their correct usage and begin operations among the survivors, and bring more through the next shipment. Rice and other food items seem to be readily available at reasonable prices in Yangon. Stefan is recommending for the next few days that food should continue to bought in country rather than pay for the shipping from Thailand. However basic building materials and items helpful for emergency shelter have skyrocketed. In some cases they are five times more expensive than pre-cyclone prices. FTH will look at helping to relieve these supply problems. Stefan mentioned reports of people migrating away from the disaster areas and heading to remote villages in the hope of finding food and shelter. They are creating of their own accord what the United Nations calls an IDP or Internally Displaced People camps. This could actually create additional pressure on the villages because they themselves have no resources to help - but are compelled by compassion. Stefan is continuing to coordinate with other NGO's and the UN representatives that are in country to find the best ways to bring in more aid supplies, and to make sure it gets to the people who need it the most. Since our inception in 1987, FTH has always operated as a CHURCH to CHURCH humanitarian organization. FTH endeavours to raise funding in the western or first world and distribute among churches in the third world or in this case the disaster areas. This not only helps ensure that food is correctly distributed, but also helps build the local church in the community, and therefore gives the local Christians an opportunity to share the Gospel through their acts of kindness. FTH is continuing to seek emergency donations from Christians and Churches who have plenty to spare and therefore can share. Please contact us to send your best donation to help bring Christ into this situation and end this terrible catastrophe. Please click here to make a donation. Myanmar Disaster Relief Update Stefan's Field Report Part 1 13-5-08 I arrived in Yangon on schedule; miracle after miracle to get in here with the gear carried. I’m aware of a reportedly a little progress on the macro scale (UN, large NGO's) day by day, but we can do much on the ground through the indigenous church here. First day has been very productive in gathering information and assessments from various sectors. Our partner church on the ground, one of the largest independent churches in Myanmar, has deployed about 50 staff pastors to 17 sectors in Yangon Province. They have a decent distribution network in place to villages in a 2 hour radius of Yangon. They've bought rice & water to this point. Their funding has run out but they will be getting funds from various outside sources as other NGO’s recognize them as a practical distribution point. Potable, safe water is a big issue... dysentery is starting to break out in several areas. Tomorrow we're going out to two areas with the water purifiers to do some on the job training with a few Full Gospel guys who will be responsible for training others on how to set up a village water filling station, and how to operate and maintain the machines. FTH will buy two more units so that the church in Myanmar has 4 which can then be used by water brigade teams to service several sites every couple days. I really like how the church is responding and the excellent quality of people committed to the relief work. Malaria is the number one killer in Myanmar followed by diarrhoea under 'normal' conditions -- not relating to the cyclone. So with the unbelievable amount of standing water covering this whole area, malaria outbreaks are also now occurring. The Vortex water units is a key to addressing the diarrhoea issue, and will buy 1,000 family-sized mosquito nets which we can have treated in pyrethrum for .06 cents each... these family sized nets are quite large and are meant to cover several people as they customarily sleep close together on bamboo mats. The Convoy of Hope NGO have been working on the overland transport of supplies from Thailand to Myanmar and will attempt to send a truck this week. If that goes well FTH will be able to piggy-back on their inroads to move bulk disaster relief supplies across the border as part of the extended project recovery. Rice is still affordable here in Yangon, so it wouldn't pay to transport rice, but building materials like zinc sheeting and roofing nails are ridiculously expensive, they’ve increased almost five times since the storm hit. I continue to meet with other NGO’s in country and with UN reps to see how we can be more effective with the narrow avenue of opportunity here in Yangon. It is very important to act now with as generous a gift as possible because it'll be put to work right away. Click here to donate to the Myanmar Disaster Relief