Compassion is the common religion in Burma
On June 2nd one month elapsed since the devastating Cyclone Nargis wreaked its vengeance on the people of Burma. Whilst much progess has been made with more than one million people assisted, the needs of the many affected in the Irrawaddy delta region particularly, remain enormous.
The response of Caritas Australia’s partners, particualrly through the Catholic Church in Burma, has been incredible. More than 65000 people have are receiving ongoing assistance in the form of food, clean water and shelter. Many more have been offered medical assistance and short term relief but the challenges of reaching more of those in great need are still signifcant due to the political situation and the difficulties of access to the remoteness of areas affected.
The power of faith institutions to deliver assistance has come to light, even in a country ruled by a strong military dictatorship. Catholic Archbihop of Yangon, Charles Bo, who has been instrumental in driving the response of the Church, sought recognition for the other faith based groups who have been so crucial in bringing relief.
“All religious groups were made victims by the cyclone. All places of worship -monasteries, clergy houses and convents - bore the brunt of the deadly cyclone”, said Archbishop Bo.
“Nargis, in its monstrous ferocity tore through many of the famous places of worship of all religions. But nothing deterred them from the sacred duty of saving lives. In the predominately Buddhist Country, where Metta and Karuna [mercy and compassion) are the major tenets of a great religion, compassion broke forth like a healing stream after the demonic deluge.
“Churches and Monasteries became the refugee camps”, continued Archbishop Bo. “With death and mayhem threatening them in their villages, thousands took refuge in sacred spaces, seeking consolation. Even before the government or the do-gooders and NGOs could move in, spontaneous charity sprang forth with Buddhists feeding Christians and Christians feeding the Buddhists. Nargis broke many things in an evil way. Goodness broke all parochial borders that fateful night when death danced arrogantly across wounding a nation”.
“As the waters raged in the pre dominantly Christian village, the monks from the nearby monastery were on the noble mission of saving people. A monk swam across the currents to pull out a woman who was about to be dragged by the marauding river. In the far off Phyapon, where Church workers linked to Caritas Internationalis were distributing aid to the survivors they choose Buddhist monks as their partners in distributing aid to non Christian villages. In Aima, in the Pathein Diocese, Fr Andrew Soe win, offered his life as a supreme sacrifice in trying to reach his marooned people. His body was found after 18 days”.
In Bogalay the Hindu temple opened its portals to feed the multitude. In the ravished streets of Yangon, Muslim merchants were distributing food to the starving masses. More poignant was the response of many poor and lower middle class people. They collected whatever they had and every weekend they treaded across in aid convoy to far off Labutta.
“Nargis stripped naked a nation with violence but people of all faiths are clothing it now with compassion”, said Archbishop Bo.
With other Christian Communities, Catholics threw everything into the rescue - money, material and man power. Many young men and women volunteered to go to the risky villages, strewn with dead bodies of people and animals. The first psycho social assistance came from nuns who risked their lives, by undertaking dangerous boat travel, without safety equipment. They were among the first to hold mothers who lost their children, carried orphans and consoled a grieving community with prayer and presence. Hundreds of seminarians were the first rescuers, clearing the villages of debris. All these are done under extreme restrictions. Through the Caritas Internationalis network, assistance continues.
“Compassion is the common religion in the post disaster phase. [Before Cyclone Nargis] people in Myanmar lived with various tags - religion, colour and tribe. But now Nargis taught us all, that human tears have no colour, no religion, and no tribe”.
Jack de Groot CEO of Caritas Australia called on all Australian’s to dig deep and support the people of Burma who have been so badly affected by Cyclone Nargis.
“The powerful work of the Church in being an institution across the country, working across all faith and ethnic groups,enables us to access areas where little other assistance is able to get through. By largely purchasing goods locally, we can get around the issues that have plagued some of the response and get essential goods quickly to those that need them.”
“We need a long term focus on Burma as issues of food security and internal diplacement will be an issue for a long time, said Mr de Groot”.
“Many Australians have been generous in supporting those in Burma who are in such great need. We want to reassure those that havent given as yet, that we are getting aid through. The need is great and we can do much more if we can get more funding to support them”.
Support Caritas Australia’s Burma Cyclone Appeal 1800 024 413 or www.caritas.org.au or GPO Box 9830 Sydney, 2000.
Or please send your donations to:
Caritas in Tasmania |
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| Contact: | Mr Pat O'Halloran |
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(03) 6208 6277 |
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