Help Repair Orphanage in Myanmar
Donation protected
In May 2008 Cyclone Nargis hit the Irrawaddy delta region in Myanmar killing an estimated 138,000 people with $10 billion in damage. Nargis was the worst natural disaster in Myanmar’s recorded history. Children in the region were particularly affected by the loss of both parents and, in countless cases, the loss of all other family members; conservative estimates say over 2,000 children were orphaned that day.
“The orphans of Cyclone Nargis were found clinging to trees, in the rubble of their homes, in the unimaginable wreckage that the wind, rain, and storm surge left behind from the night of May 2, 2008.” (Radio Free Asia)
Female children were particularly at risk for exploitation and trafficking in a rather patriarchal society. Some already established orphanages took up the challenge of caring for a number of these “orphans of the storm” as well as new orphans that have come along since. Pin Nyar Wadi Women Empowerment Center is one such orphanage that seeks to maintain connection with their local community and provide a location where the value of education is promoted giving these children opportunities to strive for.
Pin Nyar Wadi Women Empowerment Center houses, promotes education, and cares for 33 girls and 3 boys (currently) who were orphaned in the local area—some during Nargis. The Center creates a supportive environment for girls to complete their education from primary school through high school. Daw Pyi Nyar Wadi—the center founder—seeks to inculcate a spirit of independence and leadership in the girls.
The center in Kyaiklat was founded in 1973 and receives very minimal government funding, about $147 monthly. While the founder Daw Pyi Nyar Wadi is a Buddhist nun, religion is not a prerequisite to acceptance in the center. The shelter does not have any staff and its founder has recently been struck with dementia and has not run the facility in many months. The girls have managed to effectively run the place on their own. Locals have recently been convinced to redirect some of their usual temple donations to the center and one community leader has personally volunteered her time to see to the girls’ safety whenever possible. Another person, an official from the Myanmar Ministry of Social Development, volunteers to check on the girls from time to time and looks after the little government funding they do receive. The girls are growing vegetables and flowers for sale in the town and eke out a living on proceeds from those sales and the monthly government stipend, but have no funds for facility repair and improvement. They also rely on local donations for clothes and the occasion meal with meat. Usually they eat rice and fish paste for their daily meal.
Currently, the shelter has no outdoor lighting, their main building leaks during rainy season needing repair, and the road in front of the center is in such poor condition, often the girls cannot get out of their compound during heavy rains. These issues create a security challenge as well as restrict their mobility, particularly to get to school or to sell their produce.
The project would make a lasting impact on the security, stability, and capacity of the center to improve the conditions these girls live in. Through donation here, we seek to repair the main building, add external lighting for safety and security, and repair the frontage road to allow for access/egress during the heavy rains of the Irrawaddy delta. Additionally, any donations could provide school supplies for the children, including uniforms, note books, pens, pencils, and erasers. With these inputs not only would the girls engage more confidently with peers in school, but they would also gain the more intangible motivation to continue to support their own center, thus avoiding the attractive false offers that so often lead girls from this region to be trafficked.
I am Foreign Service Office working in the US Embassy in Yangon, Myanmar. As a diplomat in Myanmar, some of my local contacts brought this orphanage to my attention as one in dire need of assistance as little can be done with government funding due to the location of the orphanage outside of a large city. I have visited the facility and seen first hand the dilapidated nature of the building in which the girls live and the need for assistance. In country, in addition to the GoFundMe donations, we are collecting clothes, school supplies, mosquito nets, and other necessities to donate to this same orphanage. The funding collected from the GoFundMe site will primarily be used to repair the buildings of the orphanage, add security lighting, and if possible repair flood damage to the street leading into the orphanage so the children can access school. Myself, along with other US Embassy personal, on our personal time, will be facilitating the process of finding a contractor and working with the local volunteers at the orphanage to use the monetary donations collected to initiate the repairs. I will be responsible for withdrawing and distributing the funds collected. I will also report back to all doners how we dissemination the funding provided and what was accomplished.
“The orphans of Cyclone Nargis were found clinging to trees, in the rubble of their homes, in the unimaginable wreckage that the wind, rain, and storm surge left behind from the night of May 2, 2008.” (Radio Free Asia)
Female children were particularly at risk for exploitation and trafficking in a rather patriarchal society. Some already established orphanages took up the challenge of caring for a number of these “orphans of the storm” as well as new orphans that have come along since. Pin Nyar Wadi Women Empowerment Center is one such orphanage that seeks to maintain connection with their local community and provide a location where the value of education is promoted giving these children opportunities to strive for.
Pin Nyar Wadi Women Empowerment Center houses, promotes education, and cares for 33 girls and 3 boys (currently) who were orphaned in the local area—some during Nargis. The Center creates a supportive environment for girls to complete their education from primary school through high school. Daw Pyi Nyar Wadi—the center founder—seeks to inculcate a spirit of independence and leadership in the girls.
The center in Kyaiklat was founded in 1973 and receives very minimal government funding, about $147 monthly. While the founder Daw Pyi Nyar Wadi is a Buddhist nun, religion is not a prerequisite to acceptance in the center. The shelter does not have any staff and its founder has recently been struck with dementia and has not run the facility in many months. The girls have managed to effectively run the place on their own. Locals have recently been convinced to redirect some of their usual temple donations to the center and one community leader has personally volunteered her time to see to the girls’ safety whenever possible. Another person, an official from the Myanmar Ministry of Social Development, volunteers to check on the girls from time to time and looks after the little government funding they do receive. The girls are growing vegetables and flowers for sale in the town and eke out a living on proceeds from those sales and the monthly government stipend, but have no funds for facility repair and improvement. They also rely on local donations for clothes and the occasion meal with meat. Usually they eat rice and fish paste for their daily meal.
Currently, the shelter has no outdoor lighting, their main building leaks during rainy season needing repair, and the road in front of the center is in such poor condition, often the girls cannot get out of their compound during heavy rains. These issues create a security challenge as well as restrict their mobility, particularly to get to school or to sell their produce.
The project would make a lasting impact on the security, stability, and capacity of the center to improve the conditions these girls live in. Through donation here, we seek to repair the main building, add external lighting for safety and security, and repair the frontage road to allow for access/egress during the heavy rains of the Irrawaddy delta. Additionally, any donations could provide school supplies for the children, including uniforms, note books, pens, pencils, and erasers. With these inputs not only would the girls engage more confidently with peers in school, but they would also gain the more intangible motivation to continue to support their own center, thus avoiding the attractive false offers that so often lead girls from this region to be trafficked.
I am Foreign Service Office working in the US Embassy in Yangon, Myanmar. As a diplomat in Myanmar, some of my local contacts brought this orphanage to my attention as one in dire need of assistance as little can be done with government funding due to the location of the orphanage outside of a large city. I have visited the facility and seen first hand the dilapidated nature of the building in which the girls live and the need for assistance. In country, in addition to the GoFundMe donations, we are collecting clothes, school supplies, mosquito nets, and other necessities to donate to this same orphanage. The funding collected from the GoFundMe site will primarily be used to repair the buildings of the orphanage, add security lighting, and if possible repair flood damage to the street leading into the orphanage so the children can access school. Myself, along with other US Embassy personal, on our personal time, will be facilitating the process of finding a contractor and working with the local volunteers at the orphanage to use the monetary donations collected to initiate the repairs. I will be responsible for withdrawing and distributing the funds collected. I will also report back to all doners how we dissemination the funding provided and what was accomplished.
Organizer
RC Bitting
Organizer
