The Moegyo Humanitarian Foundation's (MHF) 1st Annual Charity Dinner to benefit the Moegyo College Scholarship Funds for students at Kani Village Youth Development and Education Center was held in Thai Tada restaurant in Herndon, Virginia on 4 December 2010. Moegyo volunteers from Virginia and New York invited guests, friends and families to enjoy authentic Thai and Burmese cuisines, live DJ music and to participate in silent auction.
Kani Village Youth Development and Education Center is one of five orphanages that Moegyo Humanitarian Foundation has been supporting since Cyclone Nargis devastated the Delta region of Myanmar in May 2008. There were also high school students and the Moegyo Humanitarian Foundation provided them with tuition fees during their high school year. Most likely as a result of this additional support they receive, in 2010, ten students passed the high school at the Kani orphanage. Nine of them approached Moegyo that they would like to continue higher education amidst many obstacles that face them. We are committed to continue helping them to achieve brighter futures.
On behalf of the nine young adults that will benefit from college education this year, we would like to thank you all for your support for the Charity Dinner. We are happy to share with you that Moegyo Humanitarian Foundation was able to raise $6,300 during the event and thus made it possible to support the children of Kani Village Youth Development and Education Center to be able to continue their education beyond High School. The silent auction was a successful addition for the night and with that alone, we were able to raise $1,165.00.
We would like to express our appreciation for the Myanmar Restaurant, A Taste of Burma, Market Street Bar and Grill, Personal Best, KS World Travel, Cox Communication, Noufall Hair Studio, and Liberty Tax Services for donating gift certificates for the silent auction. We'd also like to thank the Burmese community in Virginia for donating authentic Burmese food and dessert, merchandise for silent auction, and live DJ music.
Hidden behind at the back of two big buildings of Kyaik Waing child care center (orphanage) is a special place for the children with special needs. Even though it is located in Yangon, many people hardly notice about the place. Fortunately, a couple of MHF team members have frequently visited the center since 2001.
The official name of the center is “Kyaik Waing Disabled Children Care Center” and it is located at the Kyaik Waing, near the 8th Mile Junction in Yangon. The main purpose is to provide support for the children with special needs. The main services offered at the center are: day care, health care, education, and physical therapy for the children.
There are about 24 children (10 boys and 14 girls) with special needs. That includes a few months old baby to twenty plus old young adults. The Center is run by the Government and supported by non-government organizations and individual donors. It has 11 full-time staff lead by a principal.
Our MHF team member, who has visited the Center several times, shared his experience, “I looked around the room and everything was very minimal: a desk, a few chairs, and some baskets made by children; no computer, no air-condition. While I was chit-chatting with the principal, some boys were sitting on the floor in the corridor.”
Dinning Room and For Boys
According to the principal, “Most of them are suffering from mental illness and consequently physically disabled. Some of them were born normal, but suffered from occasional high fevers during early ages. Consequently, they contracted polio and damaged their brains. Some of them had trauma while they were babies and could not recovered from the shocks. Some of the children had serious illness after birth. The sad thing was that all of them were abandoned by their parents due to various reasons. Nobody wants to adopt them either because of their conditions.” In other words, these children were not accepted by the society.
Because the children are mentally challenged, they cannot attend a normal school. Fortunately, the Center provides basic education for these children. In terms of support, these children, particularly at the age up to 2, need medical attention. Good health care services and facilities are definitely needed for the children with special needs at their earlier age.
“Compassion is important throughout the years,” says the principal. She pointed toward across the road where another (normal) orphanage is located and said, “The goal of these street kids at the orphanage is just want to get out of there because there is no enough care-givers to give them individual attention to everyone.” “Social needs (friendly social environment) at early childhood up to 5 are also very important,” she added.
For Girls
For most other children with special needs (not mentally challenged), like herself when she was young, their “goal is to get educated.” But, many of them had to “grow up in bad environment. So, there is no motivation to try further and to find opportunity.” She herself took a different path and went to workers’ college. Up until 2005, there was no such thing as “inclusive education.” She said that most schools “do not want to accept children with special needs” because they do not want extra burdens.
When asked about some other difficulties faced by the children with special needs, she said “Poor economic conditions, knowledge, and awareness.” In terms of needs, “mobility” is important for them, but of course “different people have different needs.”
Water Tower
Government-funded facilities, like this, for the children with special needs are limited. There are 7 blind schools and 2 deaf schools nation-wide, according to her. For a nation of 56 million people, there is just one school for disabled children like this Center, one vocational training centre for adults, and one rehabilitation centre – all in the commercial capital, Yangon.
When a MHF team member visited the Center again in June 2010, he asked the new principal about any immediate support that the Center is needed. The principal shared the recent development at the Center. Basically, the Center is expanding and will accept about 70 additional children with special needs. In other words, the Center will soon to accommodate about 100 children with special needs, meaning more infrastructures need to be developed. In fact, there was a new construction going on in the compound. Among various needs, MHF had decided to donate funds for the construction of a 600 gallon (12 feet 9 inches high, concrete-reinforced) water tank/tower. The estimated total cost was 1,384,000 kyats.
At the time of donation to the Center in September 2010, a MHF team member donated total amount of 1,387,000 kyats to the principal for the children with special needs and said goodbye to the children. The principal expressed her sincere gratitude to the MHF and its donors and gave a certificate for the donation.
That was truly a special gift from the MHF to the children with special needs. Thank you all for your continued support and generosity. You are the true heroes for the children with special needs.
The Moegyo team donated $500 to help Cyclone Giri victims through the Buddhist Missionary Society Inc. in New York.
According to the statement issued by the Buddhist Missionary Society Inc., the Cyclone Giri devastated large parts of Arakan state in Burma, including Sittwe, Minbya, Myebon, Pauktaw and Kyauk Phyu, over 93 people have died and many are still missing. The loss of human life and damage caused by tragedy is expected to be higher. With their homes fade away and large tracts of land under dust, more than 175,000 survivors — mostly poor rice farmers — are living in misery, now facing disease and starvation. Immediate relief assistance is still urgently needed by thousands of victims devasted by the Cyclone Giri on October 22, 2010. Their team has launched life-saving efforts to provide relief through a strong network of monasteries and local based communities who have been in the forefront of the efforts to enhance shelters, feeding and supporting the victims of the cyclone.
The Buddhist Missionary Society Inc. aims to provide both immediate relief and long-term rehabilitation. As immediate efforts, they are now providing 10,000 kgs rice and relief materials to the most vulnerable populations in the worse areas in Arakan State.
To make a donation to help the cyclone victims in Arakan, please contact the the Buddhist Missionary Society Inc. at the following address:
Buddhist Missionary Society Inc.
35-25 90th Street, #2R
Jackson Heights, NY 11372, USA
Tel: (718)898-8274
Email: nayaka@bmsusa.org
http://www.bmsusa.org
Moegyo donated $500 for rice distribution at Myittar Kyay Mon center, a Day-care center for people living with HIV/AIDS ( PLHA ), located in Kyaik Khami in Mon State. It is managed by nuns from a Christian Catholic Church. The center currently needs rice to be distributed to the PLHA Families in the village as well as to feed the patients at their daycare center. The rice is needed until the end of this year as they are seeking funding from an NGO and are quite hopeful that they will get it for next year. Below is the center info.
Name of Center : Myitta Kyaemon (Mirror of Charity)
Location : Than Phyu Zayet Township, Mon State
Client population : People living in HIV/AIDS ( PLHA )
Services provided : Day Care, Health care & Rice distribution to patients
Number of patients at center : 25 ( 10 children & 15 Adults )
Number of PLHA families supported by center : 50 Families ( 178 people )
CURRENT NEED : Rice for PLHA Families and at the center
RICE NEEDED per month : 37 Bags ( 56 Tinn )
COST per month : 5 Lakhs
TOTAL COST till end of December : 20 lakhs ( Sep - Dec )
UN agencies and international and national non-governmental organizations present in Myanmar are mobilizing aid and deploying assessment teams following the Category 4 Cyclonic Storm, which made landfall in Rakhine State on 22 October.
Yangon, 27 October 2010 --- The humanitarian community in Myanmar stands ready to scale up support in response to Cyclone Giri, following new estimates on the scale of damages shared at the monthly Myanmar Humanitarian Partnership Group meeting in Yangon.
The meeting, attended by the heads of diplomatic missions, aid agencies, UN agencies, international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) and other members of the humanitarian community in Myanmar, received an update from the UN Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator and several UN missions and INGOs on the actions being taken in the immediate aftermath of the cyclone.
The four most affected townships in Rakhine State are Kyaukpyu, Minbya, Pauktaw and Myebon. UNHCR, FAO, WFP, UNDP and UNICEF are already present in the region and are mobilizing relief efforts. Similarly, several international and local NGOs have been sending teams to the area to carry out rapid assessments and provide food and non-food items.
Preliminary reports from assessment teams on the ground indicate that the number of people affected could be higher than initially estimated. The Myanmar Red Cross Society (MRCS) is currently collecting assessment data in seven townships in Rakhine State, seven in Magway Division and four in Sagaing Division. To date, a total of 71 villages are reported to have been affected, to various degrees, with an estimated 177,000 people affected, of which an estimated 10,000 are considered severely affected.
Although there is severe damage to infrastructure, it is reported that major loss of life has been avoided, due to early warning and an extensive evacuation of a large number of people carried out by the Government and the Red Cross in advance of the cyclone reaching the shores. The Government has also mobilized relief efforts, with a number of Ministers still on the ground in the affected areas, and has welcomed the offer of assistance from humanitarian organizations present in Myanmar.
“Good lessons have been learned from Cyclone Nargis in terms of disaster risk reduction, as evidenced by the advance deployments, evacuations from high-risk areas and distribution of relief to affected villages. The UN and its partners are ready to scale-up support, and we urge the authorities to facilitate continued access to the affected areas for both international and national staff as was done in the case of Cyclone Nargis,” said the UN Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator, Bishow Parajuli, who also commended humanitarian partners for quickly setting up sector-specific coordination structures, both at Yangon and field level.
“The most important immediate needs are in the emergency shelter, water and sanitation, food and health sectors, while early recovery including agriculture and livelihoods should also be addressed. We encourage donors to stand ready to support activities on the ground,” said Parajuli.
For more information, please contact:
The United Nations in Myanmar
Esben Q. Harboe Special Assistant to the UN RC/HC
Tel: +95 9 5074853, esben.harboe@undp.org
Aye Win National Information Officer, UNIC
Tel: +95 9 5123952, aye.win@undp.org
In 2008, the United Nations General Assembly designated 19 August as the World Humanitarian Day calling the governments and international and non-geovernmental organizations around the world to commemorate the Day.
For more information about the World Humanitarian Day 2010, please visit http://www.worldhumanitarianday.info.
The website listed the Humanitarian Principles which are the foundation of humanitarian action as:
Humanity: Human suffering must be addressed wherever it is found. The purpose of humanitarian action is to protect life and health and ensure respect for human beings.
Neutrality: Humanitarian actors must not take sides in hostilities or engage in controversies of a political, racial, religious or ideological nature.
Impartiality: Humanitarian action must be carried out on the basis of need alone, giving priority to the most urgent cases of distress and making no distinctions on the basis of nationality, race, gender, religious belief, class or political opinion.
Operational Independence: Humanitarian action must be autonomous from the political, economic, military or other objectives that any actor may hold with regard to areas where humanitarian action is being implemented".
On this special day, the team at Moegyo Humanitarian Foundation would like to pay respect to all the humanitarian workers around the world who made personal sacrificies to assist those in need. Congratulations. This day is for you.
Moegyo Humanitarian Foundation participated in the 20th Annual Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in New York. This is the 3rd time the Moegyo team participated in the Festival to sell authentic Burmese food and drinks. 100% proceeds from the sale will be used to help the children living in difficult conditions in Myanmar and we invite you to come and enjoy the Festival and authentic Burmese food and take part in this good deed.
Please click here to see the photos from Dragon Boat Festival.
On July 19th, 2010, one of Moegyo members visited Pyinnyar Waddy Girls Orphanage. Below is the member report from the field.
It was a very satisfying trip for me. We had a chance to go visit to Pyinnyar Waddy Orphanage at kyite-latt. Thanks for KK to go with me and thanks for my cousin Tin Htun Aung and my friend May Thwe Win for making the trip possible. We left from Yangon around 7:00am on July 19. Since it was the raining season, the road was so rough. Not bad that we arrived there around 11:30pm. As soon as we got there, all the children were expecting us. They said they were waiting since early in the morning. They came out from the school and warmly welcomed us, seemed like the children were so excited. I was so glad to see them and talk with everyone. During our visit, we provided breakfast and dinner to the kids, since lunch was already donated by someone else. We also provided for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the next day, July 20 as well. We also provided school supplies for the kids such as Exercise books, pens, pencils, rulers, erasers for the whole year and some snacks, silly bands, shampoo, conditioner, journals, newspaper, some clothes and so on. We donated the school uniform and slippers to the kids who do not have them. we also donated some money to the head nun and guardian. All total donation was around $400. And then we had lunch at the orphanage. After having lunch, we walked around inside the school compound and took lots of photos and checked out what they really need and how we could help them. After that we spoke with the head nun and the guardian. Then we said goodbye to the kids and left around 2:00pm. We got back to Yangon at 6:30pm.
Thanks again to KK. I really appreciated your help there.
Sunday, 13th June was a good day for the orphans and disadvantaged children in Myanmar. On that day in Queens Borough in the New York City, the Moegyo Humanitarian Foundation organized 3rd Annual Burmese Food Fair and raised record funds of over fourteen thousand dollars. The Moegyo team sincerely thanks nearly one hundred volunteers and hundreds of guests for this success. It's true that together, we can make a difference.
Please view the photos from the food fair here:
We plan to use these funds to support orphanages with monthly support and provide children with food, school supplies, snacks, toys, slippers and any materials needed by the orphanages such as cleaning supplies for hygiene purposes. we also sponsor various projects needed by the orphanages such as re-construction of their residence building, bathroom, etc. When a Moegyo volunteer handed out a blank exercise book and pencils to a young girl in the cyclone affected area, the young girl said that she now felt good about her future since she has the books to learn. These children give us so much inspiration to work hard and to help them so that they continue to believe that they have a good future.
To add to this good news, please see below a recent report from the Moegyo team members in Myanmar:
The result of tenth standard was announced on 13th June, 2010. 18 students of Kani (near Phyar Pon) took part in the examination. 10 students passed the exam and one got 2 distinctions. Those children who failed the exam last year also passed. The chairperson of Kani school is very grateful and he is very thankful for the donation of Moegyo. With the help of these donated money, the children could attend extra class and study more. He also said that the school made good use of the Moegyo's donated money.
Please see below a video clip of the food fair as created by a video journalist based in the New York City, Mr. Irfan Prawira.
The Moegyo team would like to invite you to the 3rd Annual Burmese Food Fair on Sunday, 13th June, to come and enjoy special treats. The money raised at the food fair will go towards sponsoring various projects needed by the orphanages in the poorest parts of Myanmar (Burma). You can find more information about our activities at: http://www.moegyo.org. It's good food for good cause. Looking forward to seeing you there! Please spread the word to your friends.
Here are the details about the food fair.
Full Address:
PS-12 James B Colgate School
42-00 72nd Street
Woodside, NY 11377
Corner of Woodside Ave and 72nd Street in Queens, New York.
Date: Sunday, 13th June 2010
Time: 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Please find below the menu for the day. Click to enlarge the photo.
During the water-shortage crisis in Myanmar, the Moegyo team donated 500,000 Ks to the Searchers-Myanmar team to distribute plastic buckets that can store 20 gallons of rain water. 14 Volunteers from the Searchers-Myanmar team visited the following three villages in the Waw area in Bago Division:
(a) Kan Myint (East and West)
(b) Shan Su
(c) Mayl Zale Kone
According to the Searchers-Myanmar team, some areas are still reporting water shortage even when the rain has started. The Moegyo team will continue to monitor the reports and will partner with volunteers and the able groups such as Searchers-Myanmar to provide assistance and funds as needed.
As you know, the Moegyo was founded during the initial days of Cyclone Nargis in May 2008 where Moegyo volunteers provided support to victims delivering medicine, food and supplies and participated in the various rebuilding projects in the Nargis area. Currently, we are focusing on assisting the orphanages in Myanmar and sponsoring various projects needed by the orphanages.
It has been two years since the worst natural disaster in Myanmar history, Cyclone Nargis, killed 140,000 people and left millions in need of assistance in Myanmar. On this day two years ago, on 2 May 2008, the lives of many families in Myanmar delta region changed forever. Many lost their loved ones and livelihoods. Heart breaking stories of how parents losing children and how children losing parents were told by the survivors and the first responders. Images of horror caused by the deadly wind and quick-rising water, of the rescue efforts, of the people with blank expression on their faces were widely circulated on the Internet. Songs were sang. Stories were written. Pledges were made.
The world has moved on, in a way. We have since seen other natural and man-made disasters with huge magnitude of damages in other parts of the world. We should help them. All of them. However, on this 2nd anniversary, we would like to make a special appeal not to forget the victims of Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar.
Sadly, the United Nations reported that two years after the disaster, funding gap hinders recovery in Myanmar:
"the United Nations aid coordinator in Myanmar said today that just a quarter of the pledged funds have come in and the gap threatens the long-term revival of the area hit by the disaster."
"According to recent assessments, 100,000 vulnerable families still need to rebuild their homes."
"Some 180,000 people still face acute water shortage, and there is a great need for agricultural support and the creation of income – generating opportunities at the community level."
Please find here the 3 year Post-Nargis Recovery and Preparedness Plan - PONREPP, launched by the UN, Myanmar Government and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). (PDF, 4.14 MB): http://www.aseansec.org/CN-PONREPP.pdf
The task seems daunting but every bit of assistance counts. What can one do to help?
(a) Donate your time or money to any organization helping to rebuild the societies in the areas affected by the cyclone;
(b) Visit the areas yourself, if you can, and see and assess the situation for yourself;
(c) Form a group wherever you are and raise funds and awareness in the local community about the disaster and the need for assistance.
Thank you.
Together, we can make a difference!
The Moegyo Team
The Moegyo team started the year 2010 with two visits to two orphanages in Myanmar and donated money, food and school supplies to nearly one thousand orphans and poor children.
One of the orphanages, Mya Thein Gi Orphanage in Yangon vicinity, houses 98 orphans and provides free education to nearly 400 children from the area. On the visit, the Moegyo team provided lunch to the children, and gave snacks, pencils and pens, blank exercise books, and toys. Moegyo also donated money for their day to day operations.
The second orphanage, Mingalar Orphanage in Twentay, houses nearly 280 children with 300 children coming from the area. Mingalar Orphanage is located in Phayargyi Village in the Twentay Township which is about 1.5 hour drive from Yangon. The orphanage is located inside the Phayargyi Mingalar Monastery and is situated on a land of 12 acres. The compound has a total of 8 buildings. The Moegyo team donated money for their daily operations.
It was a very satisfying visit for us. We had a chance to witness how well the orphanage was running, watching the kids play in the compound on a lazy Sunday was priceless. We were extremely glad to see healthy and happy kids there. The orphanage seems to run very well with the help of volunteers, teachers and the head monk. We were amazed that they manage to feed 600+ kids every day with no guarantee donor every month yet they make it every month somehow.
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