Photo: Children from our main campus orphan home are happy about the prospect of flood-free living and fewer mosquitoes.
Tomorrow is World Malaria Day, so we are thankful to bring you good news of how we are fighting this disease to protect the health of our children in Myanmar. In the past we’ve held campaigns to provide mosquito netting for our orphan homes in India and Uganda. This year our fight against malaria turns toward Myanmar. In 2014 there were over 300,000 confirmed cases of malaria in Myanmar, so our effort is urgent. In January plans were laid for a flood-proofing project to be completed in time for the coming rainy season which begins in late May.
Thanks to your support, we recently bought 40 truckloads of dirt to raise the level of the campus.
One of the problems with the monsoon flooding and subsequent pooling of stagnant water at our main campus home was that mosquitoes were breeding rampantly, in addition to the problem of water snakes, and the risk of cholera and other water-borne diseases. By raising the level of the property and building a wall around the campus, we hope to significantly reduce the breeding potential of mosquitoes on campus.
The 40 truckloads of dirt will significantly reduce the pooling problem, but ideally, we need another 30 truckloads to fully protect our land during the peak of the rainy season. We had planned to buy 70 truckloads of dirt, but as we began preparations to place the dirt under our raised home, we realized that many of the supports of the home had been rotted out from previous floods, and were no longer providing sound structural support for the building. Thus we had to divert some of the funding which had been designated toward the purchase of dirt to renovations on the home instead. Additionally, we are adding a brick wall around the campus. With the construction of this wall, we believe that flood waters will further be restrained from entering our property.
In other news from our Myanmar programs, a problem has arisen near our campus: our Buddhist neighbors have built a new pagoda and are not allowing a piggery near their place of worship. Out of respect for their desires and our wish to maintain peaceful relations with our neighbors, we are hoping to find a new property where we can relocate the piggery. So for now we are not breeding the pigs until we can find a new location. Please keep this situation in your prayers.
However, our rice farm is doing well and is scheduled for planting sometime in July, but this depends on the weather conditions. Last year our rice farm yielded 13 tons of rice which is helping to keep food in the pantries of our four orphan homes in the country.
If you would like to donate toward the additional 30 truckloads of dirt needed to finish our flood-proofing project, please use the “take action” link below. We are grateful for your support, and for our generous donors.
Take Action: donate toward our flood-proofing project | shop amazon through this link — as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases
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