For ten years, ActionAid has been one of a very few charities able to work in Burma’s poorest communities. Although Myanmar is the largest country in Southeast Asia, it has been largely isolated from the outside world.
Recent changes in the regime have seen the country start to open up, and ActionAid is for the first time able to offer child sponsorship here.
Child sponsorship in Myanmar (Burma)
ActionAid has just launched its first ever child sponsorship programme in Myanmar, where extreme poverty means children are often forced to work long hours, drink disease ridden water and have little or no chance of getting an education.
Ei-Ei (pictured) and her sister Pyae(right, carrying) are two such children that we're hoping to reach. They live in a poor fishing village, and Pyae is forced to work 16 hours every day to keep her family afloat.
>> Sponsor a child in Myanmar (Burma) today
Helping young people change their communities
The unique 'Fellowship Programme' trains young volunteers to live and work within communities for two years. These local 'fellows' have experienced poverty, and work in remote areas to identify and solve challenges.
The solutions are diverse; road and bridge repairs, training in farming methods, even micro-loans so people can set up their own businesses. In total, we have worked with over 390 communities, benefitting more than 150,000 of the most vulnerable and marginalised people. They were recently visited by ActionAid ambassador Emma Thompson.
Cyclone Nargis
Myanmar was hit by a terrible cyclone in 2008, and the British public responded by donating millions. ActionAid was one of the first to respond, helping 200,000 people rebuild their lives. But we did far more. We launched a country-wide network delivering rice banks, schools and health clinics to the most vulnerable people.
Kyu Kyu KhineKyu Kyu (pictured left) was one of them. "I found out my parents had died, and wondered how I would survive without them and with no home or food. I have two sons, the elder of which (aged 5), has been left disabled by polio. I didn’t know what to do.
"The grant from ActionAid enabled me to buy a second-hand fishing net, as my previous one was destroyed in the cyclone...Now I am able to catch fish regularly, and we have more money as a family." Read more here.
How you can help
When you sponsor a child in Myanmar, you'll be providing the resources for real, long-term change. You'll get two letters a year from the child you sponsor, and updates from the country programme to tell you how the money you are spending is changing the community your child lives in.
>> Sponsor a child today
