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Foundation for the People of Burma Update on Tsunami Relief Effort in Burma March 2005 Click here to make a secure online donation to Foundation for the People of Burma Following the tsunami of 12/26/04, the Foundation for the People of Burma (FPB) raised funds for Burmese people likely to have been affected by the disaster. Consistent with the ongoing work of the Foundation, the tsunami project was conceived to deliver direct aid to the largely forgotten people of Burma. The Foundation has operated through local organizations, such as monasteries, delivering health care, education and leadership development. This has allowed the Foundation the freedom to serve the needy directly without bureaucratic restrictions. Our work is on a small scale, largely invisible to the power structure, but significant to the individuals we serve and to their communities. The Foundation manages projects along the Thai border, where roughly 1 million Burmese have fled, and within Burma, now one of the poorest countries in the world. Media reports on the tsunami ignored Burma, because the country is largely cut off from the world news media, the Internet and international relations. Virtually no information was available about the tsunami's impact in Burma, or about its impact on the undocumented Burmese workers in Thailand. It was obvious, however, that the tsunami affected Burma and its people. The epicenter was 3.3 N, 96 E, just 6 degrees below the Andaman island chain in Burma, slightly south of the southernmost coast of Burma. Furthermore, the impacts in Phuket had to have affected THE THOUSANDS of Burmese workers in the fishing and tourist industries there. We were particularly concerned about the Moken (Sea Gypsies) community after our prior on-site assessment in November 2004 when we identified them as a target population for humanitarian assistance. The Mokens are especially vulnerable due to their nomadic way of life, the encroaching development of tourism, eventually unsustainable commercial fishing and costly logistical access challenges for aid workers. This community receives no organized support for their survival and adaptation to change. That was their status even before the tsunami. After the tsunami, the FPB initiated a relief fund to directly assist the Sea Gypsies and other people of Burma affected by the disaster. The response was enthusiastic and generous from around the U.S. and Europe. This report outlines our initial findings on the tsunami's impact and on the aid projects we have begun. In February 2005, a team from the Foundation visited the Andaman island chain in Southern Burma. We assumed that this was the area most likely affected by the disaster, and that the people who inhabited this area, the "Mokens" or " Sea Gypsies" were likely to have lost lives and livelihood. The Moken currently number just a few thousand, and they live in small groups on fairly isolated islands. Because they are difficult to access logistically, we hypothesized that they were unlikely to have received any tsunami related aid. Through contacts on the ground, we journeyed on small boats to a series of islands in the Andaman Sea, and learned that our hypotheses about the disaster were generally correct. We learned:
There are dire follow on effects of the disaster: People who have lost boats expect that they will need "years" to acquire enough money to build new boats, and have resorted to subsistence activities, such as wading to collect sea cucumbers, and may be forced to raise funds through sending family members to the cities or work for the fishing industry where “dynamiting” fish is known to occur, causing ecological damage. These findings encompass only the effects on the Sea Gypsies. Southern Coastal towns in Burma also experienced negative impacts, including deaths and water contamination. There is limited aid being funneled to these area, though for the Sea Gypsies, no aid has materialized. The FPB will focus its tsunami funds inside Burma on this population. Outside Burma, Burmese workers in Thailand lost their livelihood, their possessions, and even their lives. Aid to the affected areas in Thailand is well organized, but Burmese workers generally have not been able to access it. As illegal refugees, they have no claim on the aid, and are frightened to make themselves visible. A friend of the FPB has been in Thailand since February assessing this situation. Presently, the Foundation has not yet formulated a plan for this area, but a plan should be put in place within two weeks. Inside Burma, among the Sea Gypsies, our work has already begun. Having located families who had lost their boats, homes and all other possessions, the Foundation organized the delivery of food and materials for the reconstruction of boats. This initial effort, in March 2005, will be augmented over the course of this year. We have arranged with three organizations on the ground in the area which are in a position to continually monitor the changing situation and deliver basic aid. Our areas of focus are reconstruction of traditional livelihood (i.e. fishing) and restoration of clean water. We intend that both of these initial areas of focus will develop into educational/ecological projects which will work to enhance traditional community life and ecology. As we can deliver materials to rebuild boats, we will seek to form ongoing educational bonds and environmental agreements with the Mokens for preservation of the pristine coastal environment. As we restore fresh water, we will also develop community health education in order to decrease the current 50% infant mortality rate and the generally poor health of this neglected population. We will also work to establish educational support to equip the Moken to interface with tourism and the commercial fishing industry. (Currently, adult male mortality is heightened by diving accidents which we suspect are induced by employers who demand high productivity, and may provide performance enhancement substances.) Similar assistance will be provided to the bird nest collection business, which is being encroached upon and exploited by outsiders. Our next on site trip to the area is scheduled for May 2005. By that time, more aid will have been delivered in the island chain by our affiliates on the ground. In May, we will personally assess the impacts of this early stage aid, and begin to plan for the intermediate and long term assistance and partnership with the Mokens. As usual, we do not expect that the media will begin to deliver the news about the tsunami's effects in Burma. Even among our contacts on the ground, we met great resistance to share details of that fateful day. We will continue to inform you, our donors and friends, of our findings and the work we do. We are also able to accommodate any of you on future site visits, if tent camping and rough travel is acceptable for you. In this situation of genuine need and thorough world neglect, any and all eyes and helping hands are welcome. Our heartfelt thanks to all of you who have supported our tsunami relief efforts. For more information on the Foundation for the People of Burma and to donate to relief efforts in Burma, contact: Foundation for the People of Burma Phone: Click here to make a secure online donation to Foundation for the People of Burma Donations in the form of stock are welcome. Contact FPB for account instructions. The Foundation for the People of Burma is an affiliated organization of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship.
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