Burma

Cyclones are nasty business-especially if nobody tells you one is heading your direction.

That was the situation for the people of Burma's southwestern delta on May 2, 2008. With Cyclone Nargis bearing down on them packing 150-mile per hour winds, the lack of any government warning meant there was no chance to flee their thatch dwellings for anything more substantial. It struck in the middle of the night: some 150,000 died in the ensuing storm; countless others were left with little more than their lives. And survivors now suffer post-traumatic stress-children and adults alike living with images of nighttime terror and visions of floating bodies.

NCP Learning Tours have travelled to the hard-hit delta region, visiting schools and communities that were already poor, but are now even more destitute in the aftermath of the cyclone. We also trek to communities in the central hill tribe area of the country that suffer not from cyclone damage, but from the ravages of poverty and repression. At stop after stop, we meet gracious and hard-working people and get an up-close look at a country blessed with natural resources, but currently not utilizing these these for the good of the population as a whole.

The largest country in Southeast Asia, Burma (named Myanmar by the military government) has over 50 million people, along with resources such as rare gems, natural gas and petroleum, and abundant water and forests. Yet the vast majority of its people live in poverty. For instance, a teacher may earn $30-$50 a month; a farmer or laborer, less. The one track to prosperity is a military career, as the army has its hand in nearly every part of the economy of the country.

The United States has taken its cue from imprisoned opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi and has joined an international embargo against Burmese products. As with many such efforts, though well-intentioned it has ended up hurting the people of Burma more than the leaders, as the government continues to sell natural gas, timber and other resources to friendly neighboring countries such as India, Thailand, and China. Meanwhile, 65 percent of textile workers have lost their jobs, and the jobs remaining are barely at a subsistence level.

How can we stand by the people of Burma in this difficult time? NCP has been asked to provide educational support for Burmese children for the foreseeable future as families try to regain their fragile economic stability. (See our Back to School: Burma page.) Along with scholarships and funds for school materials, we support small-scale women's development initiatives as a way of helping families send their children to school.

NCP will also continue to take Learning Tours to Burma. Join this exploration of a beautiful and troubling land. The itinerary includes an overnight trek to a Palaung village and two nights in villages in the southwest delta area ravaged by the cyclone.