My name is Beryl and for 24 years, my husband Steve and I, ran a registered UK charity called KSDP / Aid for Burma, supporting many projects for the Karenni people of Burma both within the refugee camps on the Thai/Burma border and inside Burma /Myanmar.

One of the projects was the Karenni backpack medical service which provides a much-needed facility within Karenni State, Burma – no Burmese NHS there! They carry out regular health checks, saving thousands of lives; provide a much-needed immunisation programme for all the Karenni children and safely deliver hundreds of babies in the jungle hideaways where many Karenni have fled to avoid air attacks from the military junta during the current civil war in their country.

The backpack medical service is run by young Karenni men and women, under the expert leadership, training and coordination of Philip, their Director, himself a Karenni with a wife and young family in the refugee camp. Throughout his whole life, Philip has dedicated himself to helping others and he gives up so much to help the backpack medics. None of them receive a salary, just basic subsistence expenses and without them every single Karenni adult and child could be in danger of serious health concerns. I have witnessed first-hand the work of Philip and the backpack medic teams inside Burma and marvel at what they can achieve with such limited funding and resources.

When we closed our charity in 2023, (my husband and I had reached 80 years of age and we were unable to continue travelling to the region and working full-time, running the charity), we left the medics in a healthy financial state with other aid agencies continuing to support them. However, in the past year much of this funding has been withdrawn, especially that from North America, and they are now struggling to continue to provide a service with ever-dwindling funds, constantly having to stretch the existing budgets as far as possible.

Now we have heard the devastating news that Philip, himself, has become critically ill and urgently needs intensive heart surgery that is only available, across the border in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where it will cost around £20,000. In the past, this type of treatment for the Burmese refugees was covered by US aid funding but this has now been withdrawn. As stated above, there are NO spare funds available in the mobile medic budget to help Philip; a man who has helped so many in the past. Unless they can fund his transport and critical treatment in Chiang Mai, he may not survive. Philip is the ‘glue’ that holds the backpack medic service together; without his expert knowledge, guidance and leadership the backpack service could indeed fold and that would be devastating for all the Karenni. Philip has helped so many in the past; now it is time to rally round and help him.

Please, please help me to urgently raise the funds to help save Philip. Anything that you can spare will help. I can guarantee that ALL funds will be used entirely for this cause and can assure everyone that they will be securely transferred to Thailand to fund Philip’s treatment as specified. Thank you.