aid
HPIC at Work
To date, 150 Physician Travel Packs have been delivered to partners around the world for emergency relief in 2008. Haiti and the Caribbean region have received 66 PTPS, while 34 were delivered to Myanmar, (white boxes above shipped free of charge by Air Canada to Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific to Bangkok, Thai Airlines into Yangon, Myanmar) if 28 to China and 24 to Zimbabwe thanks to the generosity of Canadian healthcare companies.
The May of Misfortune.
Cyclone Nargis hit land in Myanmar on May 2, 2008. As organizations around the world were still negotiating aid endeavours, a major earthquake struck the Sichuan area of China on May 12. HPIC responded to both of these disasters with donated Canadian medicine.
Medical aid for Myanmar was channelled through the Canadian group CW Asia Fund and used on the ground by AZG (Medecins Sans Frontieres, Holland). AZG reports working with local staff to deliver medical aid through fixed and mobile clinics in more than 300 villages. According to Nina Cassils of the CW Asia Fund, “Working directly with excellent global organizations with outposts in Myanmar allowed the donations to be used effectively for the benefit of the cyclone victims.”
Excerpt from Health Partners International Canada
For more information contact:
Margaret Buchanan, Manager, Media Relations – email: mbuchanan@hpicanada.ca
Myanmar based Foreign Relief Worker
Dear Nina,
Just to let you know that I have the 2 receipts for $20,000 and will mail them to you. Will also enclose a report.
I just want to add, that, from what I have heard here on the ground, XYZ is doing a very good job of responding quickly to the needs in the Delta. It is very providential that XYZ already had a presence in that area because of the Tsunami. These local organizations are much more able to respond quickly than either the INGOs or the UN as they don’t have all of the bureaucracy to deal with, so I would encourage you, in your fund raising, Nina, to continue to donate to local NGOs rather than to the INGOs.
Donation Worksheet – Example of donated goods being distributed
In brief we (efforts of a private individual) aim to organize 1 to 2 trips per week spending approximately USD $2500 per trip, of which approximately USD $250 – $300 is spent on transport, packing, accommodation and daily allowance for our staff. Transport, of course, is the single largest factor.
Township: Number of Families (est.) = 64
Village Group: Number of People (est.) = 221
Delivery Details
| Sr. | Material Delivered | Qty. | Unit | Remark |
| 1 | Rice | 91 | cups | 1 Bag contains 24 cups(24 pyi).(1 bag is abt 200 lbs.) |
| 2 | Oil | 64 | btls | 1btl is 0.25 viss. |
| 3 | Water Bottles | 64 | btls | 1 Lit.Bottles |
| 4 | Soaps | 93 | pcs | |
| 5 | Canned Meat – fish | 64 | cans | |
| 6 | Candles | 64 | bags | 1bag contains 8 candles. |
| 7 | Salt Pack | 82 | bags | |
| 8 | Dried Noodles Pack | 64 | bags | |
| 9 | Vermicelli Noodle Pack | 64 | bags | |
| 10 | Ngapi | 64 | packs | |
| 18 | Longyis(F/Ks.) | 58 | Nos. |
Summary of AID Cyclone Nargis
The combined efforts of Metta Development Foundation, AZG, Save the Children Myanmar and MFH & Medical Relief Society Hospital.
AZG (Medicine Sans Frontieres – Holland), in fortunate position, because could divert national staff from the large existing programmes in Myanmar (over 1,000 staff) and could use the large medical reserves they had in country. In the early weeks have reached 200,000 people, have moved 200+ staff into the fields along with 9 international aid workers. In the first week 40 trucks were sent with goods to Delta, 10 boats are distributing goods and staff further south. Two cargo planes flew into Yangon airport with medical supply, mosquito nets, and water and sanitation equipment, including water treatment kits that produce 10,000 liters of drinking water per hour, 30,000 liters water bladders and other materials. 2 more planes followed. AZG has planned 8 million USD for the activities in the initial 3 months
Letter from a Local hotel manager
Dear Mrs. Nina,
I had missed your friend in Yangon. I apologized to her for my late contact due to difficulty of internet access. There are 20 houses needs for 20 families which will cost about $1000/ for all. It will cost about $ 50USD per small house to help set them.
The market prices have settled down somewhat. At first prices skyrocketed to 20 50% of normal. Here are the answers to the questions asked by visitors to your website:
Are Shipments Getting In?
Hi ,
I was doing logistics stuff last week, but we now have a team of REAL loggies here and they have taken over. My understanding is that ALL our supplies have been received and we have not had anything seized, though I think there may have been a scuffle in the airport I’m not sure it involved us. I heard a similar story about another org. There was one shipment originally consigned to us without notification by an outside org and they did not notify us, but it worked out and we got the goods.
So….the long and short of it is no problems so far. But we are also buying whatever we can here to avoid the issue of the airport, so trying to minimize clearance. I can’t speak for other orgs, but I have not heard of anything major. It seems to be mostly the UN having trouble.
The phones are incredibly difficult these days, even inside Yangon.
I know the media is consumed with the idea of confiscations and frankly I think that is mostly because reporters can’t go to the field to see for themselves the good work happening. So it’s easier and sexier to focus on the rumors and stuff you hear in Yangon.
Hope you are well and glad to hear that you may be sending funds to support local orgs. Just FYI there is a lot of attention to them here and there is a big effort to support them –
they need it!
Thanks again,
Foreign NGO based in Yangon
Locals Raise Disaster Relief Funds for Myanmar Survivors
Locals Raise Disaster Relief Funds for Myanmar Survivors CW ASIA FUND sets sights on $1Million for cyclone victims and seeks Canadian Government matching funds Vancouver, BC, May 22, 2008.
As Myanmar continues a three day mourning period, CW Asia Fund, made up of a small group of local Vancouver and Calgary volunteers, continues its efforts to raise $1 million (CDN) for emergency aid in response to the devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis. In ten days, CW Asia Fund raised over $585,000 (CDN) and hopes to reach its goal by the end of next week, with the expectation that the Canadian Government will step in to match funds raised.
It is estimated that 1.5 million people have been affected by Cyclone Nargis and up to 300,000 killed, including 120,000 children. The estimated death toll now exceeds that of the 2004 Tsunami. The flooding has stopped in Myanmar, but the health risks continue to escalate and the death toll keeps climbing. The immensity of this human tragedy is verging on the unspeakable, said Dr. John Cassils, co-founder of CW Asia Fund:
