Recent Reports

Not even a year has passed since Myanmar was devastated by one of South East Asia's most severe cyclones in decade, a media event that came and went quickly yet an event that continues to challenge the lives of millions each day. While the public has forgotten those who lost loved ones, do not have access to food, fresh water or shelter, Real Medicine Foundation has not, and continues to provide critical support to hundreds of thousands of victims in the Irrawaddy Delta through our partners IDE, International Development Enterprises.

With Real Medicine’s support,…

IDE Newsletter, September 2008

NGO Yangon Recovery Report, June 26, 2008

The skies have turned anthracite grey this afternoon in Yangon – an ominous sign that heavy rains are on their way in a few minutes. Winds are pushing the temporary plastic windows up against the back of my chair as I write. On my desk are photographs taken earlier this week of families in the Irrawaddy Delta huddled under a fallen tree during a downpour. These are dark days in Myanmar. The magnitude of the crisis here is almost unimaginable. The latest realistic estimates are that over 100,000 people have died and about 2 million people are affected. It's…

From the afternoon of Friday May 2nd until Saturday May 3rd 2008, Tropical Cyclone Nargis slammed along the coast of Myanmar (Burma) devastating large parts of the low-lying delta region of the Irrawaddy River before ripping through Myanmar’s largest city Yangon (estimated population 6 million) for over ten hours. It cut a path 50 miles wide by 200 miles long, killing an estimated 200,000 people and thousands of animals. Almost 95 per cent of all homes in the rural areas have been destroyed. Entire villages were washed away by 12 foot waves and winds up to 192 miles per…

A very brief update since our last report at the end of June: for the farm recovery effort we provided a monsoon paddy package of rice seed, access to tillers, fertilizer, etc. to 58,383 families across the hardest hit areas of the delta. We were able to deliver 10,387 metric tons of rice seed directly to 1,197 villages before the planting deadline of 31 July. This was the largest small farm relief effort among all international NGOs, the UN system and the government. Families had absolutely no idea how they were going to eat or what…