Burma

Cyclones are nasty business-especially if nobody tells you one is heading your direction.

That was the situation for the people of Burma's southwestern delta last May 2. With Cyclone Nargis bearing down on them packing 150-mile per hour winds, the lack of any government warning meant there was no chance to flee their thatch dwellings for anything more substantial. It struck in the middle of the night: some 150,000 died in the ensuing storm; countless others were left with little more than their lives. And survivors now suffer post-traumatic stress-children and adults alike living with images of nighttime terror and visions of floating bodies.

NCP's August 2008 Learning Tour visited the hard-hit delta area. Our hosts reported on-going cyclone-related needs to include: fresh water with the dry season soon beginning (many wells are polluted-or were found to contain dead bodies); food security, given that the crop that would have been harvested this fall was destroyed by the cyclone (and many fields were saturated with sea water); trauma counseling; and general economic recovery, including support for children returning to school. (One perverse outcome of children being orphaned by the storm: the government has set up homes for orphaned children, with the children being indoctrinated for government service.)

The group also visited communities in the central hill country that suffer not from cyclone damage, but from the ravages of poverty and repression. At stop after stop, we met gracious and hard-working people and got an up-close look at a country blessed with natural resources, but held back by a reclusive and oppressive military government.

The largest country in Southeast Asia, Burma (named Myanmar by the military government) has over 50 million people, along with resources such as rare gems, natural gas and petroleum, and abundant water and forests. Yet the vast majority of its people live in poverty. For instance, a teacher may earn $30-$50 a month; a farmer or laborer, less. The one track to prosperity is a military career, as the army has its hand in nearly every part of the economy of the country.

The United States has taken its cue from imprisoned opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi and has joined an international embargo against Burmese products. As with many such efforts, though well-intentioned it has ended up hurting the people of Burma more than the leaders, as the government continues to sell natural gas, timber and other resources to friendly neighboring countries such as India, Thailand, and China. Meanwhile, 65 percent of textile workers have lost their jobs, and the jobs remaining are barely at a subsistence level.

The Learning Tour group visited one of the focal points of the monk-led uprising of September 2007—the street outside a monastery in Yangon . Spurred by rises in fuel costs but representing deep resentment against the government and its policies, it was there that orange-clad monks took to the streets, voicing not anti-government slogans, but chants of peace and prosperity. When the largely Buddhist army could not be made to fire on the monks, squads of Christian soldiers were brought in from hilltribe areas to do the dirty work-the government exploiting deep tensions within Burmese society.

How can we stand by the people of Burma in this difficult time? NCP has been asked to provide educational support for Burmese children for the coming three years, beginning with a $10,000 grant this year. (See our Back to School: Burma page.) We are also planning to support small-scale women's development initiatives as a way of raising household income in delta communities. Could you, your congregation or school group make a multi-year commitment to help the people of Burma ?

NCP is also planning a second Learning Tour to Burma in January 2010. Join this exploration of a beautiful and troubling land. The itinerary will include an overnight stay in a Palaung village and two nights in villages in the southwest delta area ravaged by the cyclone.