And that it truly is, serving the Buddhist, Muslims, Hindus and Christians of Yangon city. We were greeted at the entrance by hordes of patients lined up to collect their prescribed medications. The out patient department was calling patient number 346! And it was only 10:30am. Our group arrived laden with bags of medical supplies, donations in kind from Canada, making for difficult passage in an already very crowd space.

The donations we bring include sutures, anti-biotics, ambu-bags, multi-vitamins, skin oitments, surgical blades, steri-strips,

EDUCATION

• The number of children using the centre daily has more than doubled, with well over 300 children coming to the centre daily, over last year.
• Over 220 children studying full time in five classrooms in our special education program representing a 100% increase in 12 months.
• Over 100 children participating in art, IT, English and sport activities.
• All students because of lack of money, child-rearing responsibilities or simple parental neglect are not ready to attend or not able to afford public schools.
• For most of these children this is their first opportunity for any schooling.

IT TRAINING

• IT training represents an important component of our youth programs.
• The existing IT room has 10 computers.
• Over 120 children use it weekly.

SPECIAL NEEDS

• At M’Lop Tapang, all children deserve the best care and support we can provide.
• We have started a program for children with special needs (physical and mental disabilities) who used to spend their days in the slums without any access to education, recreation, stimulation and appropriate care due to the state of extreme poverty in which they and their families live.
• The program is currently being housed in an adapted. Children are given a chance to interact and bond with other kids through arts and crafts activities.

COUNSELLING

• Counselling abused children, including through art therapy activities, is a key aspect in helping them transition to a better and safer childhood.
• We estimate that over 50% of the 1,500 children reached by M’Lop Tapang have suffered some form of abuse (sexual, physical, mental) and at least 100 need individual and intensive counselling.

VOLUNTEER PROGRAM

• M’Lop Tapang trains over 100 volunteers every year.
• We has received funding from DFID to expand this program and to create a large number of young volunteers in the community in order to share the responsibility of helping street children with the whole town.

Our first trip was with Serge Pun and Associates (SPA) travelling from Yangon to Pathein with 109 of their donors, volunteers and staff all involved with the initial emergency response. It quickly became apparent as to why international aid agencies all had so many difficulties and were met with a logistic nightmares trying to deliver assistance to the homeless victims of Cyclone Nargis.

We departed Yangon City at 7:00PM for the 100-mile journey on a very rough road. After arriving in Pathein 10 hours later, at 4:30am, we transferred to an express riverboat for a further 4-hour trip arriving at the village of Auk Pyun Wa on Middle Island at 9:00AM. At one point our river boat lost its steering coming to a halt up on mud flats due to deep fishing nets set up by local village entrepreneurs.

Our visit as a happy occasion, to witness the formal dedication ceremony attended by 35 foreign donors, 40 local donors and suppliers, 25 SPA logistics personal and field staff. The villagers had stayed up most of the night in anticipation of our arrival and this special ceremony.

Cyclone Nargis slammed into Middle Island (Hainggyi Island) completely burying the entire island underwater and completely destroying most villages, and trees in its path including the entire fishing village of Auk Pyun Wa as it sat exposed on the eastside. The population of 589 was reduced to 368, with 127 huts, the monastery, the pagoda, the primary school, and four shrimp paste factories were badly damaged or destroyed. SPA, a Myanmar and Singaporean based business, chose the task to rebuild one of the 50 totally destroyed villages in the 700-kilometer area assigned to them and other local businesses by the Burmese government. SPA ‘s choice of rehabilitation was to create an “environmentally sustainable pilot village” as a model for the entire SE Asian region with the expert knowledge of the Israeli team lead by Dr. Efraim Laor, world leader on large scale sudden disasters. The funding was provided by the Singaporean Red Cross (80%) and by private local and foreign donors (20%). The Burmese government supplied the timber, alu-zinc roofing sheets and concrete.

The result includes 125 homes constructed at a cost per home of $900 USD, each with running water and electric lighting (solar powered), a common gravity storage water tower, elevated walkways, a new river pier, a village administration building, a village medical clinic, a primary school, and a substantial two storey concrete building, raise on concrete pillars for a community center and a refuge in the case of future life threatening storms or tsunamis. The total cost for the entire village was less than $500,000 US!

It was such a contrast to the horrors experienced by these villagers just a few months before. Few trees and shrubs remained after Cyclone Nargis swept through. Following the formal dedication and handover ceremony, monks gave blessings and a feast and ceremonial activities followed.

The second stop on this journey was a nearby village, Thin Gan Gone Village, which is just starting to rebuild new housing and a new medical clinic. The cost of this clinic, fully equipped, will be $10,000USD. The concrete shell of a pre-existing building will be used to make way for healthcare. CW Asia Fund has committed to fund this much needed clinic. The pre existing structure will provide a cost effective building that will be able to withstand future flooding.

When the storm struck this village located on low lying land on the west side of a stream, the stream became a raging torrent that washed out the small wooden bridge. The villagers in this lower village drowned, as they could not cross to reach the nearby higher village. SPA had just completed the construction of a new large concrete bridge that will withstand future floods so that this tragic outcome will not be repeated.

AZG sent 250 national staff from the large existing programmes in Myanmar and used the medical reserves that were already present in the country.

In the first weeks AZG sent out 8 distribution teams to ensure the distribution of food (rice, oil, fish, beans) and non-food items (sheeting, bed nets, blankets, toolkits) and 8 watsan teams to clean up ponds and wells. Distribution was executed at household level, ensuring that all recipients did acquire the necessary items. AZG sent also 28 mobile medical teams to conduct medical consultations, set up feeding centers for malnutrition and opened 8 fixed clinics in the Ngapudaw and Laputta townships.

We drove up country 1 hour on hard surface, 2.5 hours on dirt road 80% full of pot holes. Our destination Tbaeng Meanchey in Preah Vihear province Carol Cassidy’s ‘studio’ so primitive, dirt floors, endearing weavers, amazing to find such luxurious textiles created ‘from the red earth’. Here over 40 rural artisans, land mine survivors earn a sustainable income under the generous care of Carol’s NGO Weaves of Cambodia.

From the red earth of Preah Vihear, Cambodia, a community of determined land mine survivors is creating a sustainable income through traditional weaving. In 1998 with five women making silk products and now employs over 40 rural artisans who use their artistic skills to earn a sustainable income. “We strive to uphold Fair Trade values by ensuring that all team members are able to enjoy a healthy and safe working environment.” Carol Cassidy.

Weaves of Cambodia is a silk weaving studio in the jungle region of Preah Vihear, Cambodia that only employs land mine survivors and disabled individuals, putting special emphasis on women and their families who produce fine quality silk scarves that are completely environmentally friendly. The best thing about purchasing Weaves of Cambodia silk is that it supports sustainable village life and fair trade in a reconstructing country.

WEAVES OF CAMBODIA: Blending in perfectly with the stylish, big-ticket items on the shelves of Barneys New York, Weaves of Cambodia silk scarves swaddle the buyer in sumptuousness while opening a world of possibilities to the land-mine survivors of Tbeng Meanchey, a former Khmer Rouge stronghold eight hours’ drive along a bumpy dirt road from Phnom Penh. Carol Cassidy, the innovative American weaver behind Vientiane-based Lao Textiles took over the town’s craft studio from Vietnam Veterans International in 2003, training, employing and providing health care to over 40 disabled but gifted artisans whom she says “possess natural abilities to weave high-quality silk in spite of their disabilities.”

Over the past four months, we have made tremendous progress towards assisting in the recovery from Cyclone Nargis made possible with your generous donations. Although this disaster has faded from the media, the job of rebuilding lives continues to be a challenge.

Along with providing for the most basic needs of simple food, water and temporary shelter, the donated funds have been used for:

• safe shelters for child protection;
• specialty food bars to curb malnutrition;
• critically required antibiotics and other medicines not available in large quantities within the country;
• materials to construct permanent housing; and
• psycho-social support for children and their families.

On August 6th, close to 8,000 lbs of donated medicines and high energy food were successfully air lifted to Yangon from Vancouver with 100% of the goods cleared without interference from government authorities. The value of this shipment exceeded $300,000 CDN.

We are pleased to report that all goods have been received in full by AZG – Medicine Sans Frontiers (Myanmar). Working directly with excellent global organizations with outposts in Myanmar, allows the donations in kind and shipment to be effectively used and distributed for the benefit of the Cyclone victims. All your cash donations were successfully transferred in USD without any exchange loss or risk of compromise.

During this crisis, the CW Asia Fund facilitated the transfer of over $855,000 USD of which $670,000 was raised in Canada with the help of the Radcliffe Foundation and $186,000 internationally. In addition, $444,880 of the $670,000 that was raised from Canadian individuals was matched by CIDA. These funds are being allocated by CIDA to established Canadian and international humanitarian organizations for relief efforts that benefit the people in Myanmar.

Without your generous assistance none of this could have happened. Thank you so much for helping to make the relief efforts so significant by giving and acting so quickly. It is making a big difference!

In summary, we are pleased to advise that the CW Asia Fund has managed to achieve the following objectives since May 8, 2008:

• Secured donations from International foundations and NGOs for Myanmar;
• safe shelters for child protection;
• Secured in kind donations of bulk pharmaceutical products, bulk vitamins, food supplements, dried soy powder, high energy bars, “Gastrolyte” and air freight. Arrowsmith School (Vancouver, B.C.) conducted fundraisers especially for the purchase of Gastrolyte product;
• Donor corporations included Jamieson Labs; Nature’s Path; Health Partners International of Canada; NBTY ; Novopharm; Rexall Drugs; UBC VGH Dentistry Dept, UBC Dental Association and West Coast Seed;
• Obtained donations from Air Canada and Cathay Pacific to transport the donated goods from Vancouver to Hong Kong and Hong Kong to Bangkok, respectively. Thai Air then delivered the goods from Bangkok to Yangon at a reduced cost;
• Received approval by Federal Department of External Affairs to provide financial assistance for Cyclone relief in Burma regardless of existing sanctions;
• Awarded $444,880 CAN of matching funds from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA);
• Set up a facility for donations in the UK under www.justgiving.com/burmarelief;
• Posted relief information on our website www.cwasiafund.org; and
• Launched online giving for American and Canadian donors with official tax receipting Give Meaning (100%, 0 deductions) for ongoing rebuilding of schools and healthcare facilities. Kindly forward to family and friends encouraging them to consider… One dollar feeds a family of five per day!

In the coming months the CW Asia Fund will continue their efforts in Myanmar.

Once again, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Your generosity allowed timely, effective and appropriate humanitarian assistance to be delivered to the victims of Cyclone Nargis!

Sincerely,
Nina and John Cassils
Co-Founders
CW Asia Fund

As of June 2008, the Myanmar Tourism Cyclone Relief Team had been able to reach out to 5,000 families reside at 70 villages with aid items worth US$ 80,000 approximately both in cash and in kind. The Myanmar Tourism Cyclone Relief Team is now involving in rehabilitation processes as the 2nd phase of ongoing relief effort, especially in the educational field by rebuilding and repairing schools in the Phya Pone District, Ayeyarwady Division.

The estimated budget for a school which could accommodate 100 -120 students is approximately US$ 2,000 ~ 2,500 including basic structure (i.e. 30′ X 60′ X 13′ hall types building with corrugated zinc sheet roofing, bamboo walls with timber poles); facilities (i.e. gutters, tables, 5 blackboards, benches, chairs, hygienic drinking water and toilets facilities); stationeries; and uniforms.

As of today, the project for the below listed elementary schools from Grade 1 to 5 is progressing very well and soon those will be ready to reopen for 2008/9 academic year.

• Ka Zaung Village
• Ka Dah Village
• Kayin Tha Bye Kan Village
• Ko Eine Dan Village
• Kyon Dah Village
• Kyon Thut Ta Nyi Village
• Kyaik Hpo Village
• Gwa Gyi Village
• Sa Byu Zu Village
• Nyaung Ta Bin Village
• Nyaung Taw Gyi Village
• Pa Thi Village
• Shitt Pe Village
• Thon Dat Village
• A Zoke Ka Lay Village

Members of the travel trade are also urged to look into the possibilities of donating cash or in kind for such humanitarian assistance as they desire.