Update: July 3, 2008 - Relief and agricultural recovery efforts are continuing in Myanmar. IDE Myanmar reports that as of June 30:

• 572 villages have been reached by our teams
• 54,384 households (300,000 people) have received shelter tarps
• 4.004 clean water baskets have been installed, benefiting  approximately 400,000 people

IDE is also providing urgently needed recovery aid to farmers who must get crops in before monsoon season. So far:

• 30,273 farm households received rice seed/tiller machinery help in 541 villages
• 5,222 metric tons of paddy seed have been delivered to households
• 73 power tillers have been deployed
• 2,235 gallons of diesel for tillers have been delivered

Donations are still needed to continue this effort. If you are interested in donating, please use the online form below. Thank you for your support!

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(May 2008) IDE Myanmar has operations in practically all of the cyclone-affected areas in the Irrawaddy Delta, and is hence positioned well to provide aid where it is most needed. Here’s what we are doing:

IDE has targeted 20 township areas that are affected, containing an estimated 8,000 -9,000 villages. About 125 staff have been mobilized to work in these areas - approximately six per township. The initial focus will be on providing immediate relief but rebuilding the agricultural and food security systems will receive equal priority and attention.

Water and sanitation: IDE is providing portable 200 gallon water storage containers along with water treatment supplies. The program is manufacturing hundreds of containers a day using local materials. Treadle pumps that lift water to these containers are also being set up at monasteries and village 'refugee camps.'

Shelter: IDE is providing locally procured plastic sheeting to villages that have had high percentages of homes destroyed. Local 'natural' materials of thatch are not available during this time of year, so plastic is the best option to get families through the coming monsoon season. This is a very urgent need.

Donations: IDE is directing some cash support to village managed relief centers, usually monasteries and village elders. These are run with transparency and fairness and reach the most vulnerable populations. IDE finds there is considerable internal capacity to run relief and reconstruction programs. The biggest need is to buy rice for daily meals for several hundred women, children and the elderly.

To make a donation to IDE's Myanmar Relief Effort, please use the button below: