Christian Freedom International

Christian Freedom International Continues to Save Lives in Burma’s Irrawaddy Delta.

On May 2, 2008, Cyclone Nargis lasted for just a few hours, but its aftermath has forever shattered the lives of hundreds of thousands of Burma’s residents. Fortunately, CFI is providing life for those who need it most.

“Clean drinking water is our largest problem,” said a source in the Delta whose name must remain confidential.

Most of the ethnic Karen populated Delta remains largely off-limits to large international and government aid organizations.

Except for risky, unauthorized cross-border aid distribution missions from non-governmental organizations such as Christian Freedom International from Thailand, little relief is reaching the survivors of Cyclone Nargis.

Currently most “approved” relief agencies must be accompanied by “officials” from Burma’s military junta on field visits to the Delta making it all but impossible to discuss freely with local civilians about the on-the-ground situation. Even worse, Burma’s ruling junta has tightened regulations to make it even more difficult for aid workers to get visas to visit the country.

But the affected people in the Delta are still living with acute shortages of pure drinking water, food, and inadequate shelter. The flooding caused by Nargis, which drove sea water miles inland, polluted many wells.

A UN report issued in December said a survey of several thousand people in 100 Delta communities found chronic food and water shortages, malnourishment, and many people still living in temporary shelters with plastic sheeting.

Unauthorized reports from the Delta claim that at least 240,000 people in remote villages still rely on drinking water delivered by boat in large rubber bladders. Many depend on hand-outs to survive on a daily basis.

“Clean water is such a critical element to human life, and yet most of us take it for granted every day. But when Cyclone Nargis devastated Burma in the spring of 2008, thousands of people were left without a clean, safe water supply,” said Jim Jacobson president of Christian Freedom International.

“Even before the storm, access to clean drinking water was already a challenge for many of Burma’s residents, who relied on rainwater tanks, ponds, and open wells for their water supply,” said Jacobson.

According to Jacobson, “Contaminated water in the storm’s aftermath and the threat of deadly, water-borne diseases have become a dangerous reality for thousands of helpless men, women, and children.”

As part of its extensive and ongoing support in the country’s hardest-hit regions, CFI is providing desperately needed water filters for villages in the Irrawaddy Delta. “These critical devices can supply one village with over 75 gallons of clean drinking water each day…an amount that makes all the difference between life and death for dozens of people,” said Jacobson.

CFI is distributing sand-based, technologically advanced filters manufactured in the United States to needy villages in the Delta, free of charge. “Many Americans care for the oppressed people of Burma and have donated funds for these easy to use filtration systems,” said Jacobson. “We are fortunate to have in place a sophisticated delivery system of dedicated, brave indigenous men and women who can get these devices to the people who need them without detection from the junta,” said Jacobson.

CFI has smuggled aid to the oppressed people of Burma for many years through unauthorized cross-border operations from Thailand. “Because of our network of indigenous co-workers in Burma, we remain in a unique position to continue to provide real help to the suffering people of the Irrawaddy Delta,” said Jacobson.

Teams of CFI co-workers risk their lives to bring much needed, lifesaving water purifiers to the Irrawaddy Delta of Burma. The CFI teams must avoid military checkpoints to bring water purifiers and other aid by boats and on foot to the hardest hit areas. According to Jacobson, “Because we’ve been working undetected in Burma for so many years, our teams are experts in doing this kind of work.”

CFI has also supplied victims in the hard to reach areas with food, medicine, clothing, shelter, mosquito nets, and other needed material support.

Almost 10 years ago Christian Freedom International pioneered a program of assisting persecuted ethnic Karen and Karenni populations in the war zones of Burma. CFI's backpack medics take medicine to ethnic communities facing genocidal persecution in Burma.

Visit www.christianfreedom.org to learn more about how to help the suffering people of Burma.

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