Once upon a time, Myanmar is one of the main paddy export countries. Beneath the rich and fertile land, there lied many precious stone and metals as well as plenty of petroleum oil and natural gas. However, the continuous ethnic wars have made great destruction to the natural environment and human livelihoods. The military junta ruled in absolute closed power has caused many times of conflicts among the general people. A large portion of population had been displaced from their hometowns as consequences. Moreover, natural disasters have visited Myanmar frequently these years, resulting in slow development, short of basic infrastructure and public services as well as deficiency in education and medical facilities.
In the midst of natural disasters and human calamities, many children lost their parents and have no one to rely on. CEDAR started to sponsor a children compound in 2005 to take care of these orphans. The ministry supplies the basic daily necessities to over 130 orphans and gives protection, healing, God’s words and schooling opportunity in nearby communities. The children compound volunteers care for these orphans with love and patience in order to help them walk out of the darkness in their heart.
Partner faced many difficulties and challenges in recent years. The inflation was exceptionally high in 2007 and everything was expensive. It was not any better in 2008 where there was financial tsunami. These had big impact on partner’s daily operations. There were times when partner can only provide the children with plain rice. Earlier this year partner planted cash crops and raised some pigs at the hostel with the hope to earn some money to help the operation. However, crop prices fluctuated a lot because of the financial downturn. The sale of pigs was bad too because of the swine flu local people are afraid to eat pork. At the same time, local military attacked some Karen villages in the country and forced the villagers to flee their homes. Many children lost their parents and were sent to our partner. In spite of the financial difficulties the hostel faces, partner responds faithfully to the call from God and admitted the vulnerable orphans, meeting their physical needs and giving counsel to heal their psychological wounds. After knowing partner’s situation, CEDAR sent a grant to sponsor the extension of a girl’s hostel to provide shelter to the children. Pray that partner will receive more support to better serve and bring hope to these needy children.