Cyclone in Myanmar

Here is a recent update from project leaders Jim and Debbie Taylor. You also might be interested in reading the following brief write-up about IDE Myanmar that appeared in the Stanford Social Innovation Review:
http://www.ssireview.org/opinion/entry/a_new_way_to_respond_to_natural_disasters/

We are now focusing our efforts on helping farm families to recover. The monsoon paddy planting season is upon us now and farmers are desperate for rice seed, tilling help, fertilizer – they are anxious to have a crop this season, otherwise they know they will have nothing to eat in the future. We're providing farm families with a package of inputs such as seed, fertilizer, tilling help and etc. that will come out to about $190 per household. For example, it costs $20 to help families prepare their fields, $30 to buy them rice seed that they've lost, and $40 for fertilizer.

Our delivery approach in providing shelter tarps and clean water baskets has been to by-pass the towns and deliver straight to villages. A list of families needing shelter is compiled with the help of village elders and also by visual inspection of homes. We distribute the supplies transparently and fairly, by having a public gathering of all village households, calling up the list of names individually and handing over the tarps directly into the hands of families.

As of 12 June:
-452 villages have been reached by our teams
-32,830 households (175,000 people) have received shelter tarps
-3,387 clean water baskets have been installed, benefiting approximately 350,000 people

We really appreciate your help – it has gone directly to providing shelter materials and clean water supply for cyclone victims. The families who receive help are so grateful – after receiving a plastic tarpaulin for their roof, they told our staff, "We're going to sleep well tonight!" What an understatement….they had previously been sleeping under the dripping rain and huddling under coconut palm fronds. Now they want to till their fields and have started to do it by hand! These people are tough and courageous and deserve all of the support in the world.

Best regards,
Jim and Debbie