ABM - Aid to victims in Burma
Aftermath of a cyclone: These three children lost both their parents. The mud on their faces is a sign of mourning. Photo from CPM (the anglican Church in the Province of Myanmar)
ABM is actively involved
ABM is pleased to announce that their Partner, The Anglican Church in the Province of Myanmar (CPM), is successfully receiving funds from Australia and is actively involved in the distribution of aid to victims of Cyclone Nargis.
The CPM has been providing an effective and essential emergency response capability to severely affected communities in the lower delta region.
Teams of local church volunteers are travelling from Yangon to parishes in the lower delta by road and by boat carrying supplies of rice and shelter. So far at least three journeys have been made.
The Church is supporting about 4,000 displaced people in a particular region.
Relief supplies are being transported by road and then by boat to the centres along the river.
Many thousands of people have been killed in these areas and volunteers have returned with stories of dead bodies still exposed and large groups of people still in need of aid.The greatest needs are food (rice and salt), cooking utensils, plastic sheeting for shelter and pumps to clean water sources.
The Church is also distributing non-food items such as clothing, donated by the community in Yangon.
ABM also has a worker on the ground in Yangon who is assisting the CPM in the area of liaison with international agencies and suppliers of in-kind donations.
Australian donors to ABM's Myanmar Appeal can be assured their gifts are making a difference.
The CPM Media Unit is able to supply us with photos, such as those in this document, showing the relief effort in action. They have also been interviewing victims of the cyclone and report the heart-breaking human cost of the disaster.
The CPM will be trying - within their limited capacity as a small church - to provide counselling to victims and support for rebuilding into the future.