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Many homes and buildings such as hospitals were destroyed.
MYANMAR (BURMA) - World Emergency Relief (WER) is preparing immediate relief aid for survivors of Cyclone Nargis, the category-four cyclone that slammed Myanmar on Saturday, May 3.
Benyapa Becks, Rescue Task Force (RTF) Director of Programs, departs today for Myanmar (Burma) on behalf of RTF and Carlsbad-based World Emergency Relief in a joint effort reminiscent of their work for Tsunami victims in January 2005.
The first stop on the mission will be Bangkok, Thailand, where she will rendezvous with the same Thai disaster relief team WER and RTF equipped during the 2005 calamity which killed over 223,000 people.
Depending upon conditions at the time, they will either fly into Myanmar and procure relief supplies and trucks in Yangon, or they will load trucks at the Thai border and then drive into Burma. The team will purchase emergency disaster supplies for local distribution while also coordinating incoming emergency supplies from the U.S. and Europe shipped by World Emergency Relief.
The team leader, Benyapa Becks, is a Thai national and wife of WER Board member and RTF President Gary Becks. Benyapa is a veteran of many WER/RTF missions in Thailand and Sri Lanka after the Tsunami, as well as relief work in the U.S. (Hurricane Katrina), Peru and Honduras. She flew out of LAX on Tuesday evening, May 6th.
WER will continue to monitor the situation and give aid as needed.
World Emergency Relief is a global family of seven charities sharing a common vision and core values. WER works with local organizations to combat poverty, hunger, and abuse, in addition to providing relief for victims of disaster, conflict and despair. WER's vision is to give children all over the world a living chance by addressing their practical, emotional, spiritual and economic needs, as well as the needs of their families and communities.
For information about how you can help victims of Cyclone Nargis and World Emergency Relief, please call (760) 930-8001 or toll free (888) 484-4543. Donations can be sent to: World Emergency Relief, P.O. Box 131570, Carlsbad, CA 92013.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
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