cyclone in Myanmar

[AD]

I'm kind of debating on who the best organization to give money to is. A little here, a little there? Or just one. Humanitarian Coalition sounds good and CFOB is good but since it's not so much a "charity" as an NGO will most of the money go directly there? Hmmm.

a guy from the CFOB was on All in a Day tonight and he said that $25 will feed one meal to 182 people, and that cash is the best way to help right now.

[phorbesie]

thanks.

i've decided most will go to CFOB, as they have so many projects to distribute to, and then a smaller portion to Humanitarian Coalition. i just don't like putting all my eggs in one basket

details on a benefit coming soon!

[phorbesie]

International Campaign for Food and Freedoms of Burmese People

Burmese democratic forces and friends of Burma around the world, calling for an immediate international intervention for food and freedoms in Burma

May 29, 2008

Burmese democratic organizations – along with Burma campaign groups – around the world are calling for an immediate international intervention in Burma, reminding the international community that this is the time to bring a change in the military-ruled country.

And they call for formation of a “coalition of the willing†among like-minded counties such as U.S., U.K., French, Canada, and Australia, in order to advance a collective interest in ensuring safe and unhindered humanitarian access, as well as for promotion and protection of fundamental rights and freedoms for Burmese people.

They strongly criticize the United Nations and Association of South East Asia Nations (ASEAN) for their repeated failure to live up to the international community’s expectation in providing food and freedoms for Burmese people, and for falling into trap the Burmese military junta set.

Burmese have suffered again and again under repeated ASEAN and UN's good intentioned but ill fated mediations. ASEAN and UN are simply no match for cunning and cruel Burmese generals who think nothing of breaking their promises. In the past, the end result of the ASEAN and UN failures were only imprisonments of thousands of political activists including our leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Some of those prisoners died in custody. However, the number of deaths from the current crisis will be a thousand times larger than previous crises.

Five days after an apparent agreement by the Supremo General Than Shwe, there is no concrete result on the ground. There are even more restrictions for Burmese donors let alone foreign donors. Even Burmese ex-pat physicians who are planning mercy medical missions using their own resources are subjected to a lengthy visa process.

The regime is using police and armed forces not to help those cyclone victims but to force them back to their villages without any assistance. We know how the regime is going to play the game. There will be more meetings and open up a bit each time just to string along the UN.

More people are dying everyday. This is time for ASEAN and UN to admit its failure and let French, EU, US navy and international aid agencies handle the situation. At this time, the junta has extended the house arrest of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi illegally after they exhausted the five year period. They have not shown any goodwill towards their own suffering citizens, political prisoners or the world community. There is no reason to believe that the junta will start to change as a result of more negotiation. Concrete effective action, whose time is way overdue, is the only recourse left.

We demand that UN and ASEAN stop the mediation NOW.

All the current available information from the international experts indicates that thousands of the cyclone victims are facing the second wave of death due to the outbreak of diseases. UN and ASEAN have clearly demonstrated the world that they were unable to persuade the Burmese military regime to save the lives of cyclone victims. As such, we request the Nations of the International Community willing to act upon the principle of “Responsibility to Protect (R2P)," to proceed with their noble intention to save the thousands of lives before it is too late.

Undersigned:

Dr. Cynthia Maung (Burma Medical Association) Thailand

Win7@loxinfo.co.th

Tel: 66-55-544495

Dr Khin Saw Win (Alice) (Burma Medical Association) Canada

Alice.khin@ualberta.ca

Tel: 780-4924547/780-9529877

Tin Maung Htoo (Canada)

Canadian Friends of Burma www.cfob.org

Tel: 613-237-8056 tinmaunghtoo@cfob.org

Dr. Raymond Tint Way (Australia)

Concerned Burmese Physicians and Professionals www.cmpp-burma.blogspot.com

Mobile 61 0416220208

E mail jostint@hotmail.com

Dr Ko K Lay (UK)

Concerned Burmese Physicians and Professionals www.cmpp-burma.blogspot.com

Tel: 00 44 07790 427271 drkokolay@yahoo.co.uk

Dr. Soe Naung (Jamaica)

Concerned Burmese Physicians and Professionals www.cmpp-burma.blogspot.com

Tel: 876-995-2875 soehtwe@cwjamaica.com

Dr. Aye Min (USA)

Concerned Burmese Physicians and Professionals www.cmpp-burma.blogspot.com

Tel: 804-512-4669 radiomin@gmail.com

Moe Thee Zun (USA)

Democratic Federation of Burma

wefightwewin@gmail.com

Ar Kar Soe (USA)

Anti-Dictatorship People’s Freedom Movement www.adpfmburma.com

arkarsoee@yahoo.com Tel: 301-213-0605

Yin Aye (USA)

Democratic Burmese Students Organization (USA)

yindbso@hotmail.com Tel: 301-905-7591

Tin Maung Thaw (General Secretary) (USA)

Committee for Restoration of Democracy in Burma

703-723-4855 tinthaw@yahoo.com

Min Yan Naing (Burma)

Generation Wave

gwbobmarley@gmail.com

Ko Ko Aung (Japan)

Democratic Federation of Burma (Japan)

Tel: +81-9015062893 kokoaung_dfbjp@yahoo.com

Kyaw Kyaw Soe (Japan)

League for Democracy in Burma (Japan)

Tel: +81-9060314394 sayarkway@hotmail.com

Khin Sandi (USA)

Women on the Move for Burma

Tel: 917 445 9222 freeassk@yahoo.com

Ko Thant Zin Myint (USA)

International Campaign for Burma (New York)

Tel: 347-229-4309 icbnewyork@gmail.com

Ko Myo (USA)

88 Generation Students (Exile)

Tel: 347-668-5046 http://www.pbase.com/komyoe88

E-mail: komyoe_art@yahoo.com

Aung Sa

Oversea Burmese Patriots (Singapore)

aungsayapyi@gmail.com Tel: +65-9487-4413

Taw Thar Gyi (Burma)

Democratic Front of the Patriots (HQ)

Mindfulness07@gmail.com

Shwe Htee (USA)

Nonviolent Empowerment Organization

shwehtee@yahoo.com Tel: 571-235-4035

Dr. Thi Ha (USA)

Burmese Democracy Forum (Fort Wayne - Indiana)

Tel: 260-602-1876

Dong Khup (USA)

Chin Freedom Coalition

Tel: 443-629-3329

Athein & Zaw Min Htwe (88 Generation) (USA)

Walk for Freedom

Tel: 971 285 7399

Athein168@msn.com

Thurasoe2005@yahoo.com

Aung Nyaw Oo (Canada)

Burmese Students Democratic Organization

Tel: 416-262-5447 Aungoo205@yahoo.com

Thway Ni

Burmese Bloggers without Borders (http://bbwob.blogspot.com/)

thwayni@gmail.com

Aung Tin (Canada)

Chairman (NLD-LA Canada)

Tel: 647 343 7871

uaungtin@yahoo.com

Yin Htway (Thailand)

Joint Secretary

Burma Political Prisoner's Union (http://bppuweb.bizhat.com/)

yinhtway@gmail.com

Tel: 0845755416

Guiding Star (Burma)

Contact: nikayman.niknayman@gmail.com

www.nikayman.blogspot.com

Ko Myat Soe (USA)

Justice for Human Rights in Burma ( http://www.jhburma.org/ )

msoe9872@aol.com Tel: 260-615-0575

U Than Aung (Canada)

Burma Watch International

Tel: (780) 439-7555

Cell :(780) 953-9877 www.burmawatch.org

Dr. Win Naing (UK)

Burmese Democratic Community

Tel: 0208 2067340 walaynaing@aol.com

[phorbesie]

brutal...this article shows just how EVIL the govt there really is.

Myanmar lashes out at "chocolate bar" foreign aid

Thu May 29, 6:13 AM

By Aung Hla Tun

YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's junta lashed out at offers of foreign aid on Thursday, criticizing donors' demands for access to the Irrawaddy delta and saying Cyclone Nargis' 2.4 million victims could "stand by themselves."

"The people from Irrawaddy can survive on self-reliance without chocolate bars donated by foreign countries," the Kyemon newspaper said in a Burmese-language editorial.

As with all media in the former Burma, it is tightly controlled by the army and is believed to reflect the thinking of the top generals, who until now have shown signs of growing, albeit grudging, acceptance of outside cyclone assistance.

The editorial also accused the international community of being stingy, noting that the United Nations' "flash appeal" was still a long way short of its $201 million target nearly four weeks after the disaster, which left 134,000 dead or missing.

The level of aid stands in stark contrast to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, when governments around the world promised $2 billion within the first week.

"Myanmar needs about $11 billion. The pledging amounted to over $150 million, less than the $201 million mentioned by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as emergency aid," it said, adding a thinly veiled swipe at arch-enemy the United States.

"There is one big nation that even extended economic sanctions on Myanmar although it had already been known that Myanmar was in for a very powerful storm," it said.

The tone of the editorial is at odds with recent praise of the U.N. relief effort, but follows criticism of the junta's extension on Tuesday of the five-year house arrest of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

U.S. President George W. Bush said he was "deeply troubled" by the extension and called for the more than 1,000 political prisoners to be freed.

The State Department said the Nobel laureate's detention would not affect U.S. cyclone aid, but a top U.S. commander said warships laden with aid would leave waters near the delta if they did not get a green light soon.

France, which has diverted a naval vessel to the Thai island of Phuket to offload aid supplies, demanded the immediate release of Suu Kyi, who has now spent nearly 13 of the last 18 years in prison or under house arrest.

Her National League for Democracy party won a 1990 poll by a landslide only to be denied power by the military, which has ruled the impoverished country for 46 years.

DIRE STRAITS

The situation remains dire for many survivors in the delta, the "rice bowl of Asia" in the days before what was then Burma won independence from Britain in 1948.

The army has started to bury bodies in communal graves, villagers said, although there has been no official word on plans to dispose of the thousands of corpses that still litter the fields and waterways.

Bodies are grotesquely bloated or rotting to the bone and covered in swarms of flies. The stench of death remains strong.

"The soldiers told everyone to shoo, to go away," one woman said at a communal burial site in Khaw Mhu, 40 km (25 miles) southwest of Yangon, where soldiers covered bodies in "white powder" before pouring concrete over them.

Private donors, who received assurances in state media this week that they could go where they wanted in the delta, have also run into problems, with 46 drivers and vehicles being impounded on Sunday night after a trip out of the former capital.

"They told us not to make any donations to people begging by the road," one of those held overnight told Reuters. "It is said that our donations will spoil their appetite for hard work. We completely disagree with it."

FEWER THAN HALF GET HELP

Three weeks after the cyclone's 120 mph (190 kph) winds and sea surge devastated the delta, the U.N. says it is slowly being given more access, with all its staff with pending visa requests being granted permission to enter the country.

However, getting aid and experts to the delta remains a very different proposition. The latest assessment from the U.N.'s disaster response arm suggests fewer than half of victims have had any help from "local, national or international actors."

Witnesses say many villages have received no food, clean water or shelter, and farmers are struggling against huge odds to plant a new crop to avoid long-term food shortages.

"We have only until June to plant the main rice crop," one farmer called Huje said in the village of Paw Kahyan Lay, 40 km (25 miles) southwest of Yangon.

"Our fields are flooded with salt-water and we have no water buffalo to plough with," the 47-year-old said, standing with his daughter in the ruins of their home.

(Writing by Ed Cropley; Editing by Darren Schuettler and Sanjeev Miglani)

[Ms Zimmy]

Brutal

[phorbesie]

For Immediate Release:

Canadian Friends of Burma (CFOB)

Contact: Monique Summerfield

Cell: 905-394-2634

Email: summerfield@cfob.org

Niagara Falls Burma Benefit Concert

Sunday July 20th at 6pm Monique Summerfield, student of Trinity Western University in cooperation with Canadian Friends of Burma will be hosting a benefit concert for the cyclone survivors of Burma.

Cyclone Nargis hit Burma May 3rd leaving over 134,000 people dead and millions of homes destroyed.

Proceeds from this event will go to World Vision’s Burma Cyclone Relief Fund and will be used for food aid, medical care and supplies as well for the rebuilding of homes.

Musical guests will include reggae singer Jah Pickney as well as Davy B and The Tranzend experience.

Guest speaker for the night will be Tin Maung Htoo, executive director of Canadian Friends of Burma. Zaw Wai Kyaw of the Burma Buddhist Association of Ontario and chair of the Cyclone Relief Committee (Toronto) will also be in attendance.

Date: Sunday July 20th, 2008

Time: BBQ at 6pm and Concert at 7pm

Location: Firemen’s Park off Mountain Rd in Niagara Falls, Ontario

For more information please contact CFOB at cfob@cfob.org or 613-237-8056,

or Monique Summerfield at summerfield@cfob.org or 905-394-2634

[Birdy]

I had a world vision update in my email the other day and I guess they have established almost 60 'child-friendly' spaces where about 9000 kids have been moved to in order to bring back some sense of normalcy. So tragic.

As for Afghanistan (and i apologize in advance for bringing it back up), two of my friends are being deployed there at the end of the month with the Canadian army on an infrastructure rebuild mission. Each year rogue elements and Taliban are building military training schools by the hundreds over there promising extremely poor, un-educated families protection, refuge and a chance of education for their children. Unbeknownst to these families who unfortunately have no alternative to keep their children safe, these kids are being bred to hate and kill by the thousands. It's fueled by anti-American, who's waging war on who propaganda and a large portion of the Afghani people are buying into it and who can blame them? The alternative is to wait for peace-keeping nations to do their work... the kind of work that most of these people have no idea of what it entails.

I'm a big supporter of the Canadian army's peace-keeping efforts. War is messy and very tragic, but sometimes, very necessary. If our government can contribute whatever it can to build schools and provide clean drinking water and show these people that there is an alternative, i'm all for it. Unfortunately, it's gotta be about the long run.

[phorbesie]

20th Anniversary of Burmese Democracy Movement

August 8, 2008 is the 20th Anniversary of Burmese democracy movement. Millions of people across the country rose up against the totalitarian regime, calling for the restoration of democracy and human rights in Burma. The nation-wide movement, known as “8888 uprisingâ€, was brutally cracked down by the military junta, killing more than 3,000 people. To commemorate this historic occasion, the Canadian Friends of Burma is planning to do numerous activities including the followings on August 8, 2008:

· Proclamation of “Burma Day†in the City of Ottawa

· Hoisting the symbol of Burmese democratic flag, “fighting peacockâ€

· Screening film and documentaries e.g. “Beyond Rangoon,†and “Inside Burma, Land of Fearâ€

· Photo Exhibitions on “8.8.88 uprising†in Burma

· Production of CD album (song tracks contributed by Canadian musicians)

· Demonstration in front of Burmese and Chinese Embassy

If you want to get involved, please contact CFOB office at 613-237-8056, or email at cfob@cfob.org

[phorbesie]

Feds match Chinese, Burma aid donations

Minister visits Scarborough to announce funding

BY MIKE ADLER

Inside Toronto

August 14, 2008 03:58 PM

Disasters struck Burma and China this year, wiping out villages in an instant and leaving millions of people homeless.

But Canadians and their government responded swiftly, groups from the Chinese and Burmese communities and the Canadian Red Cross said this week.

All were at Scarborough's Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto to hear International Cooperation Minister Bev Oda say her government matched $30 million raised for victims of the Sichuan earthquake and $11.6 million for cyclone relief in Burma.

In all, Canada will spend $56.7 million to speed recovery from the two disasters, said Oda. "This, we believe, reflects the compassion of all Canadians."

Victor Wong of the Chinese Canadian National Council said three months after the earthquake the building has just started. The catastrophes affected more than 46 million people and left despair in their wake, he said.

Tin Maung Htoo, executive director of Canadian Friends of Burma, said Cyclone Nargis, which hit Htoo's isolated homeland just weeks before the earthquake, was the worst natural disaster Burma has ever faced.

"In the middle of the night more than 100,000 men, women and children were taken away by a 10-foot wall of water and 200-kilometre-plus winds in their deep sleep," he said.

Htoo, adding he knows families whose relatives in Burma are still missing, thanked the federal government for a special permit his group needed to send money into Burma.

Getting disaster aid to Burma, also known as Myanmar, was difficult because of obstruction by the country's military regime. Canadian law does not normally allow for transfers of goods or money that can help the Burmese government in any way.

The minister said Canada entrusted agencies such as the Red Cross to hand aid directly to victims of the disasters and not the governments of Burma or China.

Asked about reports Burmese authorities had seized materials intended for cyclone refugees, Oda said she was assured Canada's aid goods would be flown to Bangkok, Thailand and transferred at the Burmese border to Red Cross volunteers who could distribute them in the stricken areas.

Canada is supporting a total of 20 aid projects in China and Burma, all to be completed by next May, she added,

Oda began the Thursday announcement by offering the country's condolences to the families of two Canadian aid workers killed days earlier in Afghanistan. Such people "demonstrate the strength of their courage and extent of compassion" by their work around the world, she said.

http://www.insidetoronto.com/news/News/Scarborough/article/53662