Myanmar Info
Recently Joe DiCarlo of Medical Teams International and David Eller of World Concern hosted a conference call for AERDO members regarding the Myanmar situation. I will try to post the audio of this call in the near future. Right now, we will provide two items that were mentioned on the call. First we have the UN’s Logistics Cluster page for Myanmar. Second, I have the concept note from World Concern. If you’d like a copy, please email me at chad.hayward@aerdo.net. Note: WC has asked that you keep the concept note confidential and not release it to the press, as partners on the ground could be negatively impacted if they were named publicly.
We have also offered to post what groups are doing or needing in Myanmar. I’ll be adding any entries I get on this post (below) If you’d like to post what your agency is doing, all I need is:
1. WHAT YOU ARE DOING OR HAVE TO OFFER
2. WHAT YOU ARE NEEDING
3. CONTACT INFO
4. WEB URL FOR MORE INFO
Engineering Ministries International
Engineering Ministries International (EMI) has a preselected and trained group of 30+ volunteer technical specialists willing to travel on short notice. Specialties include: water & sanitation, shelter, structural assessment, geotechnical analysis, and facilities design. Each volunteer has prior experience with international relief and development and has been pre-screened for spiritual maturity, physical fitness, mental flexibility. Our goal is to show God’s love in a practical way by providing quality assessment and technical consulting services during the critical days and weeks following a disaster. We offer our services to any organization serving on the ground in Jesus’ name.
Contact Scott Powell, spowell@emiusa.org or C:719-482-8530.
See http://emiworld.org/disasterresponse_program.html for more info.
See EMI’s disaster response application here.
International Aid
IA is providing medical clinics to assist in the restoration of Myanmar’s health system throughout the most affected areas of the Irrawaddy Delta. Additionally, International Aid is targeting individual, corporate and church donors to raise funds to support the manufacture, shipment and implementation of 50,000 HyrdAidTM BioSand Water Filters to provide long-term safe water for nearly a half-million people impacted by the cyclone.
Sonny Enriquez, IA’s Senior Adviser for Disaster Relief, was scheduled to arrive Friday, May 30, in Yangon to establish IA’s presence in Myanmar and to work directly with ministry and NGO partners on the ground.
Contact: Bruce Buursma at buursmab@internationalaid.org or 616-846-7490
For more information visit: www.internationalaid.org
MAP International
MAP International is currently working with partner organizations on the ground in Myanmar to provide emergency medicines and relief supplies. MAP is flying in an Emergency Health Kit, which will stock a field medical facility with enough medicines and emergency medical supplies to treat 10,000 people for three months. MAP has also equipped medical teams with medicines and has purchased additional medical supplies from local sources in Bangkok. MAP is planning to remain involved in Myanmar for at least the next 12 months.
Go to www.map.org or call 866.256.6849 ext. 103 for more information. You may also email jmorse@map.org.
Shelter for Life
1. SFL’s expertise is in post disaster reconstruction. We do not, normally, get involved in the “search and rescue” stage but do get involved in the transition and reconstruction period. We have a couple of professional staff in our list that have expressed interest in going to the field on our behalf. Also, we have contacted our donor base for support. At this stage, we are not on the ground but would like to. This is contingent to a level of funding that we might receive.
2. We bring professional expertise and are open to partnering with those agencies where such partnerships will bear greater fruit.
3. ContactMustafa Omar, Program Development Manager, (763) 416-0441
4. Our website is www.shelter.org
Trans World Radio
1. Trans World Radio just sent out a direct mail appeal on Friday, May, 16, to raise funds for special radio programming to Myanmar. We already have a history of airing programs to Myanmar, but are planning to add a 30-minute, 5 days per week radio program throughout Myanmar addressing social care, health care information, and spiritual care to help restore people. With no electricity or telephone connections throughout the country, this makes radio all the more important. That, plus the fact that we have a well-established radio ministry broadcasting from outside the country, puts us in a fairly unique position to make a major impact there without being hindered by the current government situation.
2. Content is one of our biggest needs. If there is a way we can partner with AERDO organizations so far as getting the word out on how the public can access relief efforts, and to amplify through the airwaves what the AERDO ministries may be doing on the ground, we would love to dialogue about that. Our desire is to not only air or otherwise distribute audio content that helps meet people’s physical needs, but to further establish our stations as a credible source of information leading into the airing of programs in future months that would be stronger in spiritual content and would help people work through the long-term grief process.
3. Contact Tom Watkins, Director, Strategic Initiatives & Partnerships, Trans World Radio, P.O. Box 8700, Cary, NC 27512, 919/460-3700, twatkins@twr.org
World Harvest
World Harvest has obtained visa access to Myanmar, and (on 5-15-2008) sent a team of 13 disaster relief specialists, comprising of 7 Doctors, a couple Nurses, and a couple Logistics members to the region. They will arrive in Yangon on Sunday morning bringing a full supply of various medicines, and also 3 units of high output water filtration machines. The team is led by Dr. Mitch Duininck, who has worked with World Harvest in Aceh, post the tsunami, and also post the Pakistan and Yogya earthquakes. Dr. Mitch and the team represent World Harvest’s premier medical disaster and relief field team.
Please contact global-partnership@worldharvest.cc for more information.
World Hope International
Thanks to immediate response to our request for aid to Myanmar, funds have been sent and items have been trucked into the country. The government has given permission for local NGOs and church groups to distribute supplies without their interference. Union Biblical Seminary in Yangon is providing shelter to over 100 people. Some of their buildings have suffered extensive damage they are still able to serve some of the locals who have lost their homes in the storm.
Food, water, blankets and medicines are being distributed throughout the Yangon area with a particular focus on reaching vulnerable children. The leadership of The Wesleyan Church of Myanmar is currently in Irrawaddy assessing needs and distributing goods in that area as well.
World Hope International is set up to distribute goods and services through it’s network in those areas. Please contact DavidErickson@worldhope.net for further information.
