Welcome to my Blog

WELCOME TO MY BLOG................

The United Nations Website for reporting on the Millennium Development Goals (www.un.org/millenniumgoals/) reports that more than one billion people live in hunger and extreme poverty. Over 32 million children are out of school. In addition to an increased likelihood of being out of school as compared to boys, girls face gender discrimination that leads to lower earning, increased illness and violent crimes. The likelihood of a child dying before its first birthday is 8 times higher for those in developing countries than for those in developed countries, and 13 times higher for the bottom billion of the population. Maternal health, labor and sex trafficking, access to clean water, HIV/AIDS, and environmental sustainability each bear grim statistics that call for action, and perhaps the hardest of all to acknowledge, is that 24,000 children in developing countries die preventable deaths every day.

The purpose of this blog is to provide information related to understanding these issues and to provide multiple resources to enable readers of this blog to take individual action. The blog will also provide updates on current activities and partnerships addressing these issues as well as some “catch up” backstories as many have asked about the path that brought me to my current passion to address social injustices and the belief that real progress is not only possible it's essential and although many of the issues are complex there are many tangible and specific things that can be done now to reduce the suffering and improve the lives of literally billions of people.


Sunday, February 12, 2012

Visit to Myanmar (formerly Burma)

I spent the last five days visiting World Vision projects in rural areas of Myanmar and was amazed at the warmth and hospitality with which we were received in each of the villages we visited. The goal of the trip was to meet with the Area Development Project (ADP) teams providing support to these villages to better understand their work environments, challenges, successes, and ways to best support them. From the capital city of Yangon we took a 1 hour flight to Bagan, then a two hour drive to the ADP office. The villages we visited were yet another 2 1/2 hours away in very remote areas and we needed special visas, 4-wheel drive, and government accompaniment to visit – this created long days but we were rewarded with rich experiences and the opportunity to see and hear in person testimonies of improved health and well-being as a result of several projects that are under way in the villages. The WV facilitated projects include:

Food and Water Security: Providing landscape and conservation principles for water security in dry and drought areas. Sharing best practices in food (agriculture and livestock) production and sustainability



This region is very dry and sandy



Water source for Ohk Hla Village


The pond, a primary water source will be dry before the next rains


Health and Nutrition: Providing instruction on nutrition and maternal health principles such as healthy diet during pregnancy, exclusive breast feeding, and pre-natal and post-natal care. One woman shared that her older children get sick more often than the younger children who benefited from the health training and practices. The younger children maintain healthier weight (more weight), do better in school, and are overall healthier. HIV/AIDS awareness, and reproductive health and family planning are also saving lives and fewer deaths related to child delivery are occurring.


Nutrition Groups - Growth, Energy, and Wellness with Rice in the center
Early Childhood Development: Early childhood development programs help prepare children for school and provide important life skills related to nutrition, behavior, and learning.


Savings and Loan: Two of the villages we visited had established a savings and loan program amongst themselves. Each month the participants meet to make deposits into the common fund. Pass books are maintained and interest is accrued. Loans are available from the common fund as well, at a low interest rate. The implementation of programs like these helps remove dependence on high interest money lenders and provides long term stability to the people of the village.
Savings and Loan group meeting


Silk Weaving



Hospital: A hospital is under construction that is being 100% funded by the people in the village. They receive official support through well priced materials and will also receive official support through staffing of doctors and nurses once the facility is completed. This is not a World Vision project.


Hospital Construction



Reviewing the hospital construction plans - the hospital is community funded. The govt. will provide medical staff.
Reforestation: WV helped provide training on growing techniques that help conserve water. The nursery we visited had several thousand plants and trees planted in small plastic bags and meticulously cared for by people in the village. After 6 months the saplings will be sold for reforestation purposes. This provides ongoing financial and environmental support. I learned that 7 eucalyptus trees grown for 7 years produce enough wood to build one house. The nursery and reforestation project provide long-term sustainability for the village and the surrounding land.
Reforestation planting using water conserving bags for planting


My heart goes out in gratitude to all of the people we met and for the warmth and loving communal experience they live and shared. I am very happy to see the WV projects having a significant and measurable favorable impact to health and economic sustainability, and also pray the way of life I observed will be preserved as there was much joy and strong sense of community displayed throughout our trip.

Other notes: The chalk you see on kids and some adults faces is called Thanaka and is a sunscreen worn nearly all the time by children and women. It is made form the ground bark of the sandalwood tree.  The traditional and standard dress for men and women is long sarong-like wraps of silk, cotton, or silk-cotton blend, called a longyi. Despite being in an extremely dry and dusty region of Myanmar the villages are exceptionally clean and orderly. Work duties are shared between families and between men and women. The drought like conditions create water and food security issues, which have been aided greatly by the improvements to water retention at the main water pond, improved technologies for growing, and increased health and yield from livestock. In the villages we visited the main sources of livelihood were agriculture, weaving, and casual labor.

Additional Photos:


Temples in Bagan with hot air balloons in the background


Temple in Bagan

Village near Chauk


Community Planning


WV facilitation of a community planning session scheduling for a full calendar year



Community planning participants


Mother and Child


Common carts in the villages

Knife sharpenin


ADP Manager Kai Kai

Plums drying

Silk weaving

Drying out husks for next years silk production





Saying farewell


Bamboo fence construction


WV People and Culture Team in Yangon
Chauk ADP Team

Yenan Chaung ADP Manager Saw Marksu

Members of the Yenan Chaung ADP