MYANMAR CYCLONE APPEAL 2008

The terrible cyclone Nargis, occurred over the Bay of Bengal on May 3^rd 2008 , struck Yangon and other parts of Myanmar at wind speeds of about 192 kilometers per hour within a diameter of 240 km.. The cyclone has almost totally devastated the former capital Yangon for over 10 hours from early Saturday to noon. More than 20,000 people have been killed in two divisions of Yangon and Irrawaddy and about 40,000 are still reported missing.. The villages are the worst affected where lakhs of people have become homeless. "More deaths were caused by the tidal waves than the storm itself.” The roads of the city were strewn with uprooted trees and electricity poles while roofless houses were ringed by large sheets of water in the Irrawaddy River delta, regarded as Myanmar's rice bowl.

Sewa International, an international charity with a network in about 20 countries including US, UK, Canada, Australia etc has decided to serve the victims of cyclone in Myanmar. In past, Sewa International has undertaken relief activities in major disasters such as Super Cyclone in Orissa in December 1999, Gujarat Earthquake of January 2001, Tsunami of December 2004 (India and Sri Lanka) and Jammu & Kashmir Earthquake of December 2005, and also serving the Katrina victims in the USA. These activities ranged from providing immediate medical treatment, shelter, and food to the victims and also providing them permanent accommodation, vocational assistance, psychological succor over a longer period of time.

Sewa International has a good network of volunteers and like minded people in Myanmar, who will be instrumental in conducting these relief operations to serve the cyclone victims. It is a matter of concern that the lack of food, water and shelter in the delta and the diseases spawned by Cyclone Nargis may add to the miseries of the affected and hence the need for an urgent help from all over the world. We intend to send a team of Doctor’s of National Medicos Organization (NMO), who has readily accepted to volunteer for us to help the needy. We also intend to distribute essential relief materials such as mosquito nets, cooking kits, clothing and other essential commodities as per needs.
 SEWA INTERNATIONAL, DELHI has launched an appeal to help and provide relief to these unfortunate victims. Your support will help reduce the sufferings of these people in the cyclone hit Myanmar. Sewa International will help the cyclone victims to bring back life to normal with the help of our team of volunteers and like minded people in Myanmar. 

For further information please contact local SEWA international coordinators :Telephone: 1300 00 SEWA – or 1300 00 7392

Email: info@sewainternational.org.au, Website: www.sewainternational.org.au

Please send your generous donations to:

SEWA INTERNATIONAL (Aust.) Inc
P.O.Box 18 Liverpool NSW 1871 Australia