Photo: One of our native team members prepares water bottles for distribution by boat to those hit hard by the floods. Today we bring you an update from our native team in Myanmar, who have been hard at work these past six weeks, responding to one of the worst flood events in Myanmar’s history. Severe […]
Photo: Local children make their way through flood waters on the way to school. Today we bring you urgent news from our native team in Myanmar. Residents of the country’s low-lying delta region braced themselves last week as flood waters from the north began to flow into the area, pushing river levels dangerously high. More […]
Photo: Our children are enjoying more comfortable living arrangements and are happy to be back in school. We are pleased to report that our Myanmar orphan home expansion project was completed at the end of May. We have 2 new rooms, which are used for sleeping and studying, and a new dining room. The 40 […]
Photo: Our children are happy to have new umbrellas which will keep them dry on their way to school.
We’re happy to report that our flood-proofing project for our main orphan home campus in Myanmar is now complete. This project included bringing in several tons of dirt to raise the entire level of the property along with a new brick perimeter wall to keep area rain-flow from pooling into our space. In addition to the flood-proofing project, we were able to make several repairs and improvements on the main buildings to help guard against the upcoming heavy rains of the monsoon season. This year, we are ready for the rain!
Photo: Children from our main campus orphan home are happy about the prospect of flood-free living and fewer mosquitoes.
Tomorrow is World Malaria Day, so we are thankful to bring you good news of how we are fighting this disease to protect the health of our children in Myanmar. In the past we’ve held campaigns to provide mosquito netting for our orphan homes in India and Uganda. This year our fight against malaria turns toward Myanmar. In 2014 there were over 300,000 confirmed cases of malaria in Myanmar, so our effort is urgent. In January plans were laid for a flood-proofing project to be completed in time for the coming rainy season which begins in late May.
Photo: The garden is flourishing with fresh vegetables such as carrots, celery, and mustard greens.
Unfortunately, our main campus orphan home in Myanmar was robbed this week in the middle of the night. The thief took our camera, a cell phone, a purse with cash, and our laptop computer. In total we lost about $3,000 worth of goods and cash. Asking our local director for comment on the news, he replied, “Although we are saddened to lose important items that we use in our work, we forgive the thief.God knows all and will set things right. We are praying and trusting that God will restore what was lost.”
Photo: Bo (pictured at front) is thankful for her new sisters at one of our orphan homes, and the opportunity to attend school.
We are very happy to share the powerful story of 9-year-old Bo who lost her father and became an orphan, but now lives a happy life full of redemption and hope at one of our Myanmar orphan homes. Her father died of a serious illness, and her mother was too poor to buy her clothes or send her to school. Bo was starving and often cried because she could not attend school with her friends. One day her mother met a woman who told her of our orphan home. Knowing that she could not properly care for her, she gladly sent her to live with our family.
Photo: One of the joyful women our farmland employs. Her job gives her hope and purpose knowing that her wages are helping provide for her family, and that the farmland she works for is also helping others in need.
We are happy to report that the third harvest at our Myanmar rice farm was a success. The crop yielded approximately 13 tons of rice at the 12 acre farm. This is a decrease from last year’s harvest due to unfortunate heavy rains during planting season that affected our yield significantly. Even so, we are thankful for a good harvest that will feed 100+ orphans and the staff in our 4 orphan homes, and also dozens of indigent elderly widows under our care.
Photo: Children pause to give thanks for the provision they never take for granted.
Thanks to support from our generous donors, along with profits from our farmland enterprise, our native team recently added a dining room extension onto one of our four orphan homes in Myanmar. The new dining space allows the children to have more room and eat at proper tables. This is a blessing to the children as they used to spread out on the floor of the home and eat wherever they could find space. Other improvements were also made to the kitchen: a new fan to keep our faithful cooks cool, a new wok, new pots and pans, and an additional stove.
Photo: A girl at one of our orphan homes is happy to have access to clean water. We are thankful to report that we have a new reverse osmosis water purification system at our main orphanage campus in Myanmar which enables our local team to save thousands of dollars on purified drinking water. But not […]
Photo: A local woman is happy to work at our farm, which provides for her and her community in an empowering way.
We are pleased to share the good news that preparation for the rice harvest is going very well, according to schedule. There has been more heavy rain and flooding than this time last year, but reports from the field tell us that they expect the weather to clear up and provide excellent conditions for the harvest in late November or December. At this point in the process, 1-2 women are preparing the field for planting, working 8 hours a day. They are healthy and happy to work on the rice farm as it provides a staple in the orphans’ and the community’s diets. Our native team in Myanmar is able to serve almost 300 meals each day to orphans and staff in four different homes in the country.
Photo: Girls at one of our orphan homes are excited to start the school year with new uniforms, purchased with profits from our native-led rice farm and piggery projects.
We are happy to report that around 100 children from our orphan homes in Myanmar went back to school this month, which is an increase in enrollment from last year. They were happy to receive backpacks, new uniforms, writing books and pens, shoes, and umbrellas — much-needed items for school that they would not have otherwise, as they come from backgrounds that would never have afforded them such opportunities. Their education is made possible by profits from our 12-acre farmland and piggery project along with donations made by our orphan sponsors.