Relief Amid Chaos: Supporting Monastic Communities and Flood Victims in War-Torn Myanmar
We want to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude to all of our generous donors who have made these crucial relief efforts possible. Your unwavering support has allowed us to respond to the urgent needs of displaced monastic communities and flood-stricken families across Myanmar, providing essential assistance to those who have been affected by both the ongoing conflict and devastating natural disasters. Thanks to your contributions, we were able to deliver critical aid at a time when it was needed most, helping alleviate the suffering of hundreds of people. On behalf of those who have directly benefited from your kindness, we extend our deepest thanks for your continued generosity and solidarity during these challenging times. We share the following report from our team leader about a recent project.
Earlier this year, we conducted two main donation projects targeting monastic and laity communities, which I want to tell you more about. The two projects are (i) Mogok Monastic IDPs Relief Aide Donation, and (ii) Kyaukse Flood Relief Donation.
Based on our recent research and preliminary studies, we prepared to help the monastic IDPs from Mogok who were evacuated from their monastery, namely Nyaung Thone Bin Thamane Kyaw, due to the armed conflicts between the Myanmar military junta’s forces and the insurgent alliances – Mandalay PDF and TNLA. As we shared a previous post, the monastery is a well-regarded Buddhist Samanera School where many novice scholars have studied. It was founded by Nyaung Thone Bin Sayadaw, a well-known “Bodhisattva” of our country. It was one of the most reputed novice schools called သာမဏေကျော်စာသင်တိုက် (Thamane Kyaw School) in Myanmar and there were more than 200 novice students here before the military coup 2021. Due to its location next to the Strategic Hill (ဗျူဟာကုန်း) of the military junta’s forces, the monastery suffered from devastating damages and dire consequences. The junta’s artillery shells landed on the buildings in the monastery and they were destroyed severely. Hence, the monks and novices could not stay longer in the monastery and fled from Mogok altogether seeking safety, overcoming many challenges and road insecurities. They temporarily relocated to a monastery in the Mount Popa area, which is 271 miles in southwest of Mogok, and our team traveled there to help these many monastics in need.
The other update I would like to write about is how we managed to provide support to 120 families of flood-stricken people in Kone Gyi Village in Kyaukse Township, the holy site of the Most Reverend Webu Sayadaw. Earlier, Typhoon Yagi wreaked havoc in Myanmar, and Aljazeera News reported that 226 people, at least, were killed across the country and 26,700 houses were damaged in Mandalay Region alone, citing the junta-controlled media and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA). An independent report produced by OCHA Myanmar reported an estimated 1 million people across the country were affected by the flooding as of 26 September. Although most of the flood-hit townships lie in the Kyaukse Plains and the central plains of Myanmar, there was significant damage to road networks, transportation, and telecommunications. Hence, our local team traveled to one of the worst flood-stricken villages in Kyaukse township, and the village was located between the two rivers called Samone and Panlaung. As the roads were damaged and disrupted in most places, we had to cross the neck-high waters by boat and could finally reach the food assistance to the target village. Our donation helped 120 out of 600 families in the village.
To put this in perspective, I have read that over one million people across 70 out of the 330 townships in war-torn Myanmar have been affected by flash floods from heavy monsoon rains and remnants of Typhoon Yagi, according to the UN-OCHA’s report. Our local monastic donation team has conducted some studies on our own, across social media and through personal contacts and communications with the local charities and monks who are actively carrying out relief and resettlement campaigns for the flood-hit people in accessible areas. I would like to share what we’ve learned here, as I have witnessed the wonderful ‘people-to-people’ assistance campaigns as immediate disaster response actions in responding to the devastating disaster. I have personally seen how well-known Sayadaws, celebrities, volunteers, charities, and several local people help flood-stricken victims with emergency assistance such as food, medicine, personal hygiene kits (including menstrual kits), etc.
Anyway, we are most appreciative of the steady donations that we continue to receive from our generous supporters overseas. These contributions have made a real difference on the ground, enabling us to provide essential supplies to those most in need, even in the face of the immense logistical challenges presented by ongoing conflict and natural disasters. Without the support of our international donors, we would not have been able to bring timely relief to the monastic community displaced from Mogok or the families suffering from the catastrophic floods in Kyaukse. As we move forward, we remain committed to delivering humanitarian aid to vulnerable communities across Myanmar, and we deeply value the ongoing solidarity from our global network of supporters. Thank you to all who have helped us in our time of need!
