By Adrian Mack

Maybe they should call her Cyclone Nina. When she sits down for a chat with the Asian Pacific Post at a Kitsilano diner, Nina Cassils’ first act is to start dispensing gifts, like a hand-woven basket from the Rawang community in Burma-Myanmar’s Kachin State, along with a rapid-fire history lesson of the region. All this while simultaneously gushing over the Madonna concert she’d attended with a bunch of girlfriends the night before at BC Place.

The youthful-looking 54 year-old is warm, open, and super-kinetic. She leaps from topic-to-topic without pause, sometimes tripping over her words in the rush to communicate as much information as she can.
When she empties her bag on the table in front of her, it’s a messy snapshot of the work that Cassils and her husband Dr. John Cassils are currently engaged in – along with their friends Susan and Wieland Wettstein – on behalf of their Cassils Wettstein Asia Fund. The Fund has spent the last 10 years improving the lives of indigent children and families in Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and Burma-Myanmar, throwing its energies behind libraries, orphanages, schools, hospitals, and other relief efforts.

To date, over $3 million has been raised in direct aid benefiting hundreds – if not thousands – of children and their impoverished families. There’s a handsome spiro-bound booklet produced for potential donors to a pediatric hospital in Angkor, Cambodia – a “ten-year dream,” in Nina’s words. There’s a brochure about the Moo Baa Dek orphanage in Thailand. “We’ve been with them for 10 years,” she says. “There’s about 150 children here and it’s actually become so large it’s its own village. It’s neat.”

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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

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Thank you! Metta would like to thank all the support that is pouring in from our friends abroad (see bank information below for more donations). We are much encouraged by it, and it keeps us going even in these difficult times. Many of you are asking us for proposals, and we are happy to announce that our staff is in the last stages of finalizing the global budget and proposal!

Metta has been present in the area since the aftermath of the Tsunami in 2004, and this has enabled us to mount a quick response. In Yangon, the Program Director and Communication Officers are working day and night, with additional help from many skillful volunteers. We have been able to mobilize local organizations and people from the area who can act there. Here is a breakdown of the most current number of staff members and volunteers.

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2000 hrs

Thank you! Metta would like to thank all the support that it pouring in from our friends abroad. We are much encouraged by it, and it keeps us going in these difficult times. Many of you are asking us for proposals, but we are responding at the moment on the run, so please trust that we have competent people that are doing all they can, and meanwhile accept our updates you on the situation as it evolves, including the support we have provided and are planning to provide.

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Two days after we left Myanmar with high hopes and plans for our next few months of aid work, Cyclone Nargis hit the most vulnerable areas of Myanmar along the Iraraddy River. While we were still in Bangkok, John and I began to receive news updates from the field and were forced into a state of shock at the level of devastation and destruction the cyclone had created.

…”Cyclone Nargis” destruction is massive due to 3 – 8 meter surges that went deep inside the country, in effect worse than the Tsunami. Entire villages swept away even 50km behind the coastline… There go your children, there go your wife and there go yourself. We began immediately without assessment of damages to send truckloads full of food, shelter material and a medical team with medicine on a boat to an island. The next truck, boat to another island and so forth. There were many many dead bodies…..

We knew that the logistics and challenges of bring emergency relief aid to the 1.2 million Burmese in remote areas was going to be a challenging undertaking. The best solution for immediate aid was for us to join together with other private donors, local businesses and local NGOs to help those in distress. Returning home through Taipei, we committed to our friends and partners in Myanmar that we would begin fund-raising and co-coordinating relief aid supplies as soon as we arrived home.

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In the hills 150 miles north of Yangon ‘Htamon Ngwe Taung’ village where the 23 household villagers have invited us to the opening ceremony of the gravity flow water supply system that has been made possible with your contribution. We were overwhelmed by their welcome and happiness. There were 2 village bands, with drums and bamboo flutes and they honoured us with gunshots!! I felt pompous!! Having cool spring water in the dry hot season is a real wonder so their smiles and grateful look really warm our hearts. How I wish you could be there! Honest, my thoughts were with you both that day. Attached is a group photo of the procession. The regular project ending report with full photos and financial accounting will be sent on completion of the two other projects funded by you. God bless you.” With warm regards, Morine Po, Community Health Care Cordinator, METTA DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION

For more information about the Metta Development Foundation clean water project.