September 2024 has not been an easy month for many people who live in central and southern Myanmar. If you've been following the news, then you would have heard about the extensive flooding in Myanmar which was caused by multiple hurricanes during this year's wet season.
Kennedy lives on the outskirts of the central capital city, which is Nay Pyi Taw. Like most of his neighbours, Kennedy and his teenagers have been adversely affected by the floods because they've lost access to safe drinking water.
After M2M sent Kennedy a small emergency payment to his electronic wallet, which was issued by his bank, he had to make a tough decision. Was he going to use the money to benefit himself and his teenagers? Or was he going to use the money to benefit the other people who live in his neighbourhood? M2M is pleased to inform you that Kennedy chose the latter option.
Kennedy noticed that one of his Buddhist neighbours has a deep well on their property. Because of this, Kennedy purchased a water pump to enable all the people in his neighbourhood to get access to clean drinking water from the well.
M2M commends Kennedy for his selfless act during very difficult times. Please see the photos below.
Having a wet season every year is considered to be quite normal for all the countries in the tropics. Myanmar is definitely not an exception to this rule. Did you know that Yangon, in urban Myanmar, usually receives 3000 milliliters of rain every year?
In past years, some wet seasons have lasted for about 3 months in Myanmar. However, some wet seasons can deliver very heavy rainfall for up to 5 months. The latter is often accompanied by catastrophic hurricanes from the Bay of Bengal.
Our recipients in Myanmar have informed the M2M Team that Myanmar is currently going through a very rainy wet season, that has been going on for over 3 months. As a matter of fact, some recipients were unable to join the Zoom Meeting scheduled on Friday, the 26th of July 2024 due to inclement weather. To watch the recording, please click here.
Too much rain can disrupt internet connections and can easily cause power cuts too. Another problem caused by too much rain in Myanmar is the quality of the drinking water.
Shortly after the Zoom Meeting was held, a tradesperson came to Mercy's house to test the quality of the water. Below is a picture of a water sample in a bottle for your perusal.
The orange-coloured sediment at the bottom of the water sample, inside the bottle, is iron. According to the tradesperson, the iron level in the drinking water was unacceptably high. Furthermore, the water was deemed to be unfit for human consumption.
Since Mercy is running a preschool in her home for 15 children, there is a possibility that the water in her house could make the children sick.
At M2M we take water purification very seriously. Therefore, M2M has sent Mercy a sum of money to enable her to buy and install two new water purification machines. Please see the photos below.
This water purification system features 3 filters designed to deliver clean and safe drinking water to all the occupants in Mercy's house.
This is the larger water purification machine which cleans the water used for washing and bathing.
The M2M Team is very grateful to our donors for making this water purification project possible.
Back in May 2024, Elijah asked M2M to send him some money to build a new toilet. Apparently, his old toilet was on the verge of falling apart, and this situation was having an adverse effect on the water sanitation in Elijah's commune.
M2M quickly responded to Elijah's request by sending him the necessary funds to enable Elijah to buy all the materials required to build a new toilet. Below is a series of photos to document the construction of the new toilet.
Elijah and his team worked very hard to build a new toilet. Below is the result of their hard work and effort.
Water sanitation is of great importance to every person who lives in Myanmar regardless of whether they live in urban or rural areas. At M2M, we take water sanitation very seriously.
M2M is very grateful to our donors for turning this building project into a reality.
Before we focus on the outcome of this project, it might help if we gave you some background information first.
In the past, the Mission2Myanmar (M2M) sent money to David Ling, the owner of the Yangon campus, to enable David to install a rainwater tank and a water purification system at the campus. Due to these developments, the staff and students were fit and healthy because they had access to clean drinking water during the dry season.
There were some unexplained illnesses at the campus during the wet season. If truth be told, most of those illnesses were caused by water-borne infections. Finding the root cause of the water-borne infections was not easy.
Eventually David concluded that the cause of the water-borne infections was the harmful microbes from the students' toilets. During the dry season there was no need for alarm because the microbes, from human waste, stayed in the ground. However, during the wet season, the river swelled and flooded the campus. By raising the water level, the flood water lifted the microbes from the ground and then, the children became sick because they had to walk through the flood waters mixed with harmful microbes.
In early 2021 David received a generous donation from a donor in Brisbane, to enable him to start building a septic tank. This happened before M2M became a Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) for tax purposes. The ultimate reason for building a septic tank is to make sure that all the microbes that get flushed down the toilets, stays deep down in the ground. To eliminate the risk of water-borne infections, those microbes must never rise to the surface especially during the wet season.
In the middle of 2021 M2M received a corporate donation, which was directed to the septic tank project. This happened after the Australian government gave M2M the green light to become a DGR. David received this funding just before the heaviest monsoonal rainfall started.
Sometime in November 2021, the wet season ended and the flood waters receded. Then after that, David recalled the construction workers to complete the septic tank project.
The septic tank was successfully completed in early January 2022. It will be connected to a new toilet block, hopefully before the next wet season begins.
On Thursday the 5th of November 2020, Pastor David sent Pauly a message via Facebook Messenger to inform him that the concrete well project in Rakhine state was finished.
Below is a collection of photos, which were taken by Elijah from Rakhine state, to document the construction of the well.
If you look carefully at the last photo you will see a tank next to the well. That's because there was enough money in the budget to build a well and a tank.
Elijah and his team of helpers are very grateful to all the donors who supported this project.
Sorry to disappoint you but there's nothing in the water worth worrying about because the water is safe for drinking!
We are very pleased to inform you that a new water purifier has been installed at the orphanage.
From now on all the school children and all the orphan kids at the Yangon campus have access to clean drinking water. Please watch the video below.
