၁၃-ဇြန္-၂၀၀၈
A Relief Team's quick update from  Myanmar.

Foreigners and local people dont feel much about Cyclone in Yangon. It seems like people are going as if nothing has happened here and life is almost back to normal in Yangon.
But all effected area and delta area are still bad as some young doctors ( work with IOM mobile clinics) and volunteers from Sydney team just recently come back from the field just 2-3 days ago ( some remote village of Kunchangone, Dadeye east Island and Phyapone).
Almost all big trees are gone in Ygn.. It has been showering almost everyday but still very hot here. we can't imagine how hot it will be in Ygn in next summer.
First week, We helping with a local group MBEAN and also helping a litle bit with Relief International, a US base NGO. Dr Cynthie is heading RI as country director and she know how to implement effectiveness here. we thanks her for her advices and guideline.
but i plan to work with UN's linked IOM ( International Organization of Migration) as field coordinator until we go back as they urgently need someone in the field.. plan to go to Bogalay and Phyapon tomorrow. but it depends on their transprotation arrangement.
There are many cluster meeting from all UN and international NGO and aid agencies held at ex-Nico ( now is new name) hotel..
All kind of clusters and coordination meetings are overwhelming..
today We attended( just to listen) 3 UNDP, OCHA chaired meetings .. this is a good experience for me as We can see first hand experiences of how these UN and agencies teams are working. urprisingly i dont see any gov rep atttends these meetings and i have some doubt that effectiveness of these big name org in Myanmar.
We think many small local and community groups are real heroes here and they reach out to the field and people.. We've donated some money to MBEAN group here too..
MBEAN group is very effective and We plan to support them in future. If anyone want to donate or want to transfer some funds to them, pls let me know or pls do it.. We think they have good field update and transparent.
We plan to work and go to field with IOM, partly because We want to work and see by myself a wider view of how and what UN related orgs are operariong how effective they are. But we think we Burmese working and linking together are more effectivce sometimes.
pls go to MBEAN group home page at http://www.burmarelief.org pls forward this message to anyone who may be interested in.

ok
We gotta go..The beauty of life does not depend on how happy you are; But on how happy others can be because of you..."

The End....

Freedom from Fear
Aung San Suu Kyi

 

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