Meeting the needs of villages in Burma

Flooding in Burma has caused widespread distress, destroying houses and possessions and washing away fields of crops. Roads and bridges remain damaged from landslides and travel is incredibly difficult for the supply of food.

Stand by Me’s team in country have worked extremely hard to respond to local needs in Northern Burma, organising the transportation and distribution of rice and food supplies along with clean drinking water to the villages with the most need. Weather conditions and damaged transport routes has meant that journeys have been difficult, but our team has persevered and in the last month they have reached several villages in Northern Chin State and Sagaing division.

Many people in these areas have been forced to evacuate their houses to escape the floodwaters and are currently residing in temporary shelter. Even where floodwaters have subsided, houses, fields and possessions have been left covered in a thick layer of mud and clean drinking water is in short supply. With no means to purify water, their health is at risk. Our team delivered clean drinking water to each family, giving them hope to survive and gave sweets to the children, adding excitement and smiles to difficult living condition in temporary shelter.

A great number of people living in Burma are completely dependent on rice farming for their livelihood. The floods destroyed their harvest and has left them in great hardship. Prices of food throughout the country have skyrocketed, pricing ordinary folk out of purchasing food.

Our team visited the village of Naak Zang, approximately 97 miles from Kalaymyo where our team are based. It is home to just 71 families and it’s location on the riverside caused the floods to sweep away their crops. We distributed 47 bags of rice to all the families in Naak Zang and met one of the village elders who commented “some help come last week for only our own church members, but you have brought rice and red beans for every person in the village. You have shown us God’s love! I am so proud of being a Christian!"

Our work with the victims of flooding in Burma will continue in the months to come. If you would like to help support our work providing relief and reaching people that otherwise would be forgotten then please visit our Burma Floods fundraising page.