The second DDM Relief Team to depart for Burma on 25 May
The United Nations (UN) has warned that 70% of the disaster victims in Burma will face food shortage and have pledged the assistance of the international community. The UN has also pleaded with the Burmese government to relax its rules and let international relief organisations and relief supplies enter the disaster areas.
The Dharma Drum Mountain Social Welfare and Charity Foundation (DDMSWCF) made a decision on 21 May that it will again dispatch a relief team to Burma to assist disaster victims by providing food, water and medical supplies.
The second DDM relief team will be a small group consisting of volunteers Li Yihsiang, Yang Renxian (Jin Yang), Yang Yaojie and Xiong Yinghui. They will depart for Burma on 25 May by Mandarin Airlines. According to local Burmese-Chinese, the disaster victims desperately need water purification systems and simple medical products.
DDMSWCF will organise 1000 first aid kits comprising of bandages, cotton tips, iodine and cream as well as 5 water purification sets and other relief items to the disaster areas. Mandarin Airlines has agreed to assist with the transportation of one metric tonne of materials. In addition, the DDM relief team will purchase rice and other food locally so as to save cargo space on commercial flights and the inconvenience associated with the transportation of these goods.
As the Burmese government has not yet formally allowed international relief organisations and relief materials to enter Burma, much relief material has either been denied entry to the disaster areas or confiscated by the local government. Hence DDM will liaise closely with local Chinese and the government department managing the relief work to allow relief materials to enter the country. The team will purchase whatever is lacking with the help of local Burmese-Chinese and volunteers.
Master Sheng Yen, the founder of DDM, called on the citizens to regard those who died as great bodhisattvas and to feel the suffering of the disaster victims as if we are suffering ourselves. The Master asks us to realise the ideal of a global village and to donate generously to the victims of Burma.
(translated by DDM Australia Editing Team)