Relief provided to Magway
We are so happy to report that part our donation fund was sent to the urgent relief work being carried out in Magway. Please see the following report and photos as to how it has been applied.
Militaries conduct sophisticated aerial attacks on their own civilians, burning them alive. The social welfare system is controlled by the very oppressors who commit assault and murder. Displaced people are therefore left to rely on self-help social welfare, a system set up and operated by the contributions from internal and overseas donors, as well as their own resources. Health care systems break down amidst a pandemic and life-saving medications such as those for HIV and TB become unobtainable. Unfortunately, this is not the plot pitch of a dystopian novel, but the reality of the situation as it unfolds in the Magway region.
Yet, the human spirit is incredibly powerful and resilient. In the absence of international intervention, aid workers such as May and her emergency response team continue to take fate into their own hands. Their efforts fall nothing short of inspirational, bordering the miraculous. Often, they risk their own safety and wellbeing in service. Despite the gravity of the situation May affirms that “the team has a united spirit!”
Those familiar with Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning may give a silent nod to the thematic synonymity of these situations. There is however, one noteworthy difference. Frankl’s recounts from Nazi concentration camps are echoes in history, whereas the situation in Myanmar unfolds in this moment. As Buddhists, we can surely appreciate the phenomenological salience of that fact. That is, the past has already arisen and ceased, but we can work towards creating conditions more fruitful in the present. Conditions that bring peace to our own hearts and to the external world. In that sense, your donations are a vehicle towards this goal.
Currently, your dana is being directed towards blankets, shelter and food for IDPs and to support Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) staff. For context, a bag of rice is worth roughly $25USD and feeds one family for two weeks. Donations are also funding hygienic products and medicines which are in short supply. Your donations have hit the halfway mark of what is needed for May’s group, which is amazing! Still, more are needed and all are appreciated.
