Metta is a Myanmar based non government organization operating through funds received from international development agencies and private donors. Self-help mechanisms incorporated into the project process encourage self sufficiency within a period of three years. The Village Drugstore is one such example. Fifteen village drugstores are owned, funded and operated by village volunteer housewives trained by Metta Foundation, an amazing program of responsibility, self-help and empowerment.

Metta's assistance focuses on building community capacity, coordinating sustainable development projects and promoting community controlled social and economic associations. Priority is given to initiatives that are economically viable, technically appropriate and socially acceptable. Three main areas of focus are clean drinking water wells, the village drugstore project and the basic medicines and children’s vitamins program. Additional information can be found at Metta Development Foundation or www.metta-myanmar.org. Financial statements, budgets and field reports are available upon request.

More than 2.6 billion people – forty per cent of the world’s population – lack basic sanitation facilities, and over one billion people still use unsafe drinking water sources. As a result, thousands of children die every day from diarrhoea and other water-, sanitation- and hygiene-related diseases and many more suffer and are weakened by illness.

The lack of access to safe water and sanitation has many other serious repercussions. Children – and particularly girls – are denied their right to education because they are busy fetching water or are deterred by the lack of separate and decent sanitation facilities in schools. Women are forced to spend large parts of their day fetching water. Poor farmers and wage earners are less productive due to illness, and national economies suffer. Without safe water and sanitation, sustainable development is impossible

Photo (top) water ceremony blessing the new village drinking water well in a Northern Myanmar village.
Photo (bottom) children pumping clean drinking water from the new donated well.