Holiday Newsletter
The following message was sent out to our newsletter subscribers. We are sharing it again here for those who follow this account and did not receive the letter.
“If you would support the people of Myanmar and the NUG, then our revolution will be over in just a few months. And then the international community can be proud of Myanmar as being a successful country in the near future! We need the support of the international community more and more.”
These words, spoken on a recent podcast by Linn Thant, the European Representative of the National Unity Government (NUG), highlight the urgent plea for people around the world to rally behind Myanmar’s democracy movement, which continues to resist the military regime’s violent oppression. And with these words in mind, we hope you will continue the support you have shown in the past year, whether it was by donation, signing a petition, or political action.
Our non-profit, Better Burma, is dedicated to aiding those continuing to strive for human rights and equality in the “Golden Land,” as the country is also known. Better Burma was founded in the weeks following the coup of February 1st, 2021, when the military arrested the country’s democratically-elected leadership, immediately plunging Myanmar into a state of terror and tyranny.
Since that fateful day, we have carried out a wide range of successful programs: educational, humanitarian and medical. Our projects go strictly towards non-violent causes, from military defection campaigns to COVID relief the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) to food for monasteries and impoverished regions. We encourage you to check out our blog for more information about our recent endeavors.
Yet to continue our mission into 2023 and beyond, we need your support. We confess that one of our least favorite tasks as a non-profit is soliciting funds. However, it is an unavoidable and practically never-ending need because we are not funded by large grants, relying almost solely on the generosity of individual donors like yourselves to carry out our programs.
There are three ways that a material donation could be made. The first possibility is quite straightforward: a direct donation on our website, either as a one-time contribution or recurring monthly pledge. The second is to participate in our current Facebook Holiday Campaign, in which Facebook has pledged matching donations (terms apply).
A third way to consider contributing is by purchasing a unique and attractive (yet affordable) gift made by artisans in Myanmar. We are pleased to announce Better Burma’s newly opened online shop, which offers pieces handmade by craftspeople from disadvantaged and vulnerable backgrounds across the country—people with disabilities, mothers who have contracted HIV/AIDS, civil servants who have joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), ethnic and religious minorities, and more. Proceeds from the sale of these crafts will go both to the artisans, themselves, as well as help support our other humanitarian projects.
The artful designs and the materials—such as the thanaka artfully incorporated on the dolls’ faces, or the cat and frog toys wearing scarves made of traditional longyi fabric—highlight their Burmese origins. Please take a moment to browse the selection of jewelry, toys, home accessories, and artwork. These pieces were made all carefully by hand, one at a time, and reflect the wide diversity of the Golden Land’s ethnicities, cultures and religions. We are pleased to say that all of our products are 100% “Made in Myanmar!”
In closing, we again sincerely thank you for your continued interest in staying informed about the plight of the democracy movement in Myanmar. If you haven’t done so already, you might want to take a moment to listen to our English language podcast, Insight Myanmar, which can be found on Apple and Spotify, or anywhere else you get your podcasts. Also feel free to follow our Insight Myanmar accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter as well. And if you are a Burmese speaker, check out our three Burmese-language podcast programs as well, available on our website. Finally, we would be so tremendously grateful and appreciative of any amount you can contribute, in whatever way you may choose! Thank you!