Posted by :   on 14/10/2008 at 09:05

Our partner, Pastor Timothy is currently travelling into Burma and the Irrawaddy Delta again. It is now the start of ‘open season’, the finishing of the monsoon season. The opportunity is now here for us to start building houses for the poorest among the poor there in the Delta. Pastor Timothy will be assessing where the greatest need is and where we can begin to build.

On his last visit to the area, he visited several villages. Not only had many lost their loved ones, but their homes and possessions and their means of livelihood had also been swept away. Several families were bunking together in whatever buildings and homes that managed to survive the Cyclone. The pathways were thick with mud making access through the villages difficult. Even the more solid buildings that still remained were not that secure and roofs were leaking everywhere, some were even slanting in the direction of the cyclone winds. The make-shift shelters seen here and there had been constructed of plastic sheeting, scrap metal, bits of wood and bamboo matting.

“One woman ran up to me and told me how her home had been swept away with her young children inside. She pleaded with me for one plastic sheet to make a shelter for her and her surviving children on the land where their home had once stood. Her simple request broke my heart and brought tears to my eyes. After all that she had lost, she could have asked for much more, but all she requested was one plastic sheet. She deserves much more than that. One plastic sheet….the words are forever etched in my mind. Her voice is ringing out in her desperation. This woman deserves a home.”

Pastor Timothy is going back to that woman’s village on this trip and will build a home for her in an expression of love and care from people who have given, to tell her ‘you deserve more than one plastic sheet’ and also for the many others who are experiencing a similar situation as her.

We will be working together with the church and village leaders on this project, and also with local aid agencies who are working with us and who have conducted a census of the area, selecting the families that are in most need.

Each house costs £200 to build. We are so grateful that through the support of all who have donated we will be able to rebuild so many houses and be able to provide shelter for the many families at risk. Along side the rebuilding we will be providing saws to the villagers so they can start clearing their lands and rebuilding their communities.