If you would like to help out with the disaster relief effort via donations in Myanmar, it would be best, at the moment, to send donations to organisations working with the monastries in Myanmar. It seems to be the most effective method at the moment as reliefs from NGOs like red cross and world aid are being delayed by the government of Myanmar.
Also we received a short description of what is happening on the ground from Ashin Sopaka
Dear all,
Thank you very much for the public and personal emails regarding the cyclone in Myanmar. I will try to respond personally to each one, but please bear with me.
I am currently in Bangkok for fund and supply raising efforts. My teacher went to Irawaddy Division to assess the needs and will be bringing a shopping list with him sometime this coming week. Before he went, he wanted to focus on hospital supplies (he started a hospital many years ago in a town called Bogalay, the eye of the storm), and apparently it was completely wiped out. When he gets to Bangkok this week, the list will probably be longer and more inclusive. By the time I left yesterday, our monastery in Yangon was practically a warehouse of food for distribution in the South – people think our organisation can get the goods out better than the government!!! You have probably heard about the 37 tons of food being held up at the airport from World Food Program.
Apparently, we have a “branch” monastery in Bogolay, but are not at all sure about the monks who live there.
My own personal observation fo the damage is limited to yangon. Ancient and gigantic trees completely uprooted – seems the only trees to survive are coconut trees. All the billboards are gone (thank goodness!) Power lines down everywhere, meaning no electricity for the next 3 months or so. No water. Lots of building damage, but it appears mostly superficial. With the exception of the shacks so many people live in – most of those, at least around the monastery, were completely blown away. Prices have doubled and trebled.
If anyone is wanting to help, the best way is through a Buddhist, preferable monk, organisation. The NGO’s, as you can see from the news, are having major logistical and political problems, and while the government wrath was turned against the monks last year, the Sangha is still very, very highly respected, so clearing supplies through customs will be a breeze, as well as the distribution. I believe Jim posted a link to such an organisation. Further, these kinds of organisations usually do not have overhead, so the supplies go directly to the needy. Indeed, we will be using all the money we raise outside Myanmar to buy supplies for import.
Even with pictures, it is really difficult to imagine how these poor people live on a day to day basis, much less in these horrid conditions. This is the hot season, so temperatures are over 100 F with no breeze and almost 100% humidity, no rain and no shade, and apparently a stench that reaches the stars. Even living around this I am still touched to the core at their incredible suffering. Even if you don’t meditate, please sit for a short period everyday radiating all the loving kindness you can muster for these people.
with metta Ashin Sopaka
