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Aid to Burma
Originally appeared on spirituality.com
Myanmar seems a long way from my cozy Western home—geographically, culturally, and politically. Not long ago, protests by Buddhist monks and other Burmese brought home just how far-removed this Southeast Asian country seems from a life of democratic rights and the freedom to move, congregate, and speak one’s mind.
And now, on top of the decades of stifling political restriction that already elicits a heartfelt yearning by Burma watchers, the nation has been struck by a devastating cyclone. Many thousands are presumed dead, thousands more are homeless, and there are rising fears that the consequences of the disaster will only snowball in the coming days.
Facts on the ground don’t look good. What infrastructure was in place in the Irrawaddy Delta area seems to have been devastated. In Rangoon, as the first cargo of aid supplies was flown in, the military didn’t seem to have the right equipment to offload and distribute it efficiently. Many potential donor nations are holding back, concerned that corruption will mean that the ruling military will benefit at the expense of those most urgently requiring aid.
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