WIN’s Thanks for 2008

 

With the close of 2008 we would like to express our gratitude for your interest and support for the oppressed people of Burma.   

Worldwide Impact Now (WIN) was able to help this year with the on-going humanitarian crisis in Burma recently high lighted in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis.  This was made possible because of your care.   On behalf of the many refugees assisted, we would like to say “Thanks”.   

In 2009 we will resume our focus on Eastern Burma, where the Burmese Army continues its campaign to drive ethnic minorities off ancestral lands rich in natural resources.

In the New Year we look forward to summarizing the specific impacts made this past year, as well as explaining the focus for 2009.

Again, thank you from all of us at WIN for impacts you made possible this year.

“Burma Matters”

Weekly Inspiration Post

On April 10, 2007, Burma Army troops executed FBR relief team member Saw Lee Reh Kyaw after interrogating him at their headquarters. He was tortured for days before his murder.

His crime: Helping provide humanitarian relief to his people under attack by the Burmese Army in Eastern Burma.

His service is an example unto all who believe in the fundamental rights of people to be free.

In all we do this week, we honor him and what his life stood for.

Clean Water for Burma

by Melody Colliatie, high school student

My mom told me about the need for water in Burma; she also told me how I could help. She told me how by raising just five dollars, one person could receive a water bottle that would provide them with water for up to six months. I thought this was incredible so I took the flyer she gave me to a teacher at school and we made many copies, put them in classrooms and made announcements that tomorrow we would go to all the classrooms for a one time collection. Unfortunately my school wasn’t excited about helping others. My peers and I were stuck on pure hope that we would raise maybe ten dollars.

The result shocked us all; we raised three hundred and eighty dollars in a one hour time span. The only disappointed face was my teachers who wanted to raise a lot more. However we helped more people than my expectations held and with that I am now going to get to travel to the Thailand/Burma border and hopefully help face-to-face.

Melody Colliatie,

NOTE FROM MOM: Alongside Melody’s response to this idea, we circulated the flyer to her National Leadership mentor as well as friends and family who are teachers and/or students. In seven days, this “Youth Helping Youth” initiative shipped 400 Seychelle Water Bottles to the Burma region. Thanks to our friends at Seychelle Environmental Technologies for their generous support, the bottles will provide filtered water in an area that is still in great need from the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis.
Linda Brown

PHOTO CAPTIONS:
Dick Parsons, Exec.VP, Carrie, Exec.Adm., Carl Palmer, President & CEO, receive the H2O paper bags of fundraising dollars in support of the Burma water youth initiative. www.seychelle.com
Photo Credit: WIN staff

Carden Academy students help make a difference!
Photo Credit: Ted Mansour

Burma Matters. Context Matters.

Thanks for your interest in Burma.   Your donations for the present crisis response have been aimed at bypassing corrupt processes that either prevent or diminish aid getting to the people.   Unfortunately our friends inside Burma are reporting that children and elderly are dying in remote areas and so our main effort remains focused on them.

 

Background.  We have been working in this region since 2004, and formally as a non-profit organization since 2006.  Our focus has been on Leader Development, Skills Training, Support to Education, Health and Welfare, and Human Right Reporting primarily in the eastern mountainous region.

 

The military dictatorship of Burma / Myanmar has for decades waged a campaign driving non-Burman ethnic groups from ancestral lands owned for over two thousand years.  This is a massive land grab for natural resources.   These ethnic groups are unfortunately in the way. 

 

To date over 3000 villages have been burned down or mined and over 500,000 internally displaced people are on the run on any given day inside Burma.  With the present natural disaster in the Irrawaddy River delta region, that number is in the millions.    It is also important to note that over 800,000 forced laborers unwillingly support the regime under brutal conditions so that leaders may profit from a land rich in natural gas, oil, precious gems, teak wood and hydro power potential.  Refer to  www.tbbc.org. 

 

Most of the world is unaware of the true cost of a gallon of Chevron or Total gasoline coming from this region.   The UK Burma Campaign publishes a Dirty List annually to identify businesses that contribute to the regime’s wealth.

www.ukcampaign.org

 

As you watch the present crisis unfold, it is important to consider events in the above context or one can be mislead as to what is really going on “in the shadows”.   Unfortunately what we are witnessing is a regime that uses weather and time in ways that suit its strategy of driving non-Burman ethnics from their lands.  The Irrawaddy River region is the richest agricultural region in Southeast Asia and is largely populated by the Karen ethnic group.

 

Following blogs will provide you updates on the current crisis response, as well as background information on Worldwide Impact Now. 

 

Sincerely, Tim

 

Tim Heinemann

Worldwide Impact Now

www.worldwide-impact-now.org

Forward-based in the region

 

Worldwide Impact Now (WIN) Perspective

WIN’s objective is to free oppressed peoples worldwide through human development, empowerment and enablement initiatives. We have adopted a “Burma First” imperative. Thanks for your interest.

We invest in what we call “rainmakers”… servant leaders of character respected by their people. We feel this is the key to taking care of oppressed people “in the shadows”. We work with these grassroots leaders as catalysts in building strong communities, security, stability and prosperity from the ground up. We rely on them all now in crisis and they are performing as expected with courage. We also support other non-profit organizations in initiative where they clearly are innovating and making critical differences. Our aim is for these “rainmakers” to also succeed.

By providing training and financial contribution to these “agents of change”, we hope to create collaboration and cooperation among all of them. This is one way of accomplishing results greater than any single organization or person is capable of. Our role here is one of facilitation and coordination within a like-minded “community of purpose”.

The critical factor now in the Irrawaddy River region is in hastening aid to refugees at greatest risk in remote areas. We are succeeeding at this now by relying on old friendships established over the past four years. This is leadership worth investing in.

We appreciate your care for the diverse peoples of Burma and hope to be able to tell their compelling story in new ways in coming months, as we work together with many friends from locations across Southeast Asia.

Thank you,

Tim Heinemann

Worldwide Impact Now