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Dear Friend of Burma Lifeline,

It’s time again for our (nearly) yearly update on Burma Lifeline’s activities. This newsletter carries news of a developing new strategy for the future. Read on!

If you are receiving this newsletter, you have probably helped Burma Lifeline in one way or another in the past. We are enormously grateful for that support. Without your generosity, we wouldn’t be where we are today.

What’s Happening in Burma

More than a year after the Burmese Military tried to kill Aung San Suu Kyi, she is still under house arrest in Rangoon. The war against their people (both the Burmese and the indigenous peoples) goes on unabated. The rulers have fielded an army of more than 400,000 in a country the size of Texas (with no external enemies). Most of the army is not paid and fed by the central government in the capital, but is forced to ‘live off the land’ with the obvious abuse of the citizenry which that entails.

Yet foreign tourists are invited to come to Burma and spend their money. They are allowed to visit ‘safe zones’ and they see beautiful things and smiling people (who are afraid to talk to them). There are large parts of the country where no one goes without risk of being shot on sight. In the indigenous areas the murder, rape, torture, forced porterage and forced relocation still go on.

Some Burma Lifeline Board members and volunteers have been to the border in recent months. They have seen new arrivals interviewed and heard their tragic stories. It is maddening, to say the least, that these horrible things are still going on (as we write this). And worse is the knowledge that the central government, as an act of good faith, could put a stop to the atrocities overnight. Instead, they hold a sham constitutional convention and tell the world that they are on the way to democracy!

What We’ve Accomplished

During the last year we have sent a total of $59,200 to the border region in Thailand. $30,000 of that money was for general relief needs. Much of this money was spent providing for Shans who have been coming over the border at the rate of 1000 per month. This money has provided shelter and food for the new arrivals. The remainder of the emergency funding has gone to provide for flood relief, hospital costs and school supplies for refugees at other points along the border.

We have also provided $7,000 (partial funding in cooperation with other agencies) to an effective community development program. This program was set up to train interns who then visit villages on both sides of the Thai-Burma border promoting health and education programs.

We have just sent $12,700 to support a clinic on the border for the next six months.
And, we have funded a computer training program ($9,500) for Shan youth (so they will have the skills to get better jobs).

Burma Lifeline requires detailed spending reports for all its funding. Those reports account for every penny of spending and are on file in our office for anyone to see.

President’s Message

Over the last four years Burma Lifeline has managed to raise between $45,000 and $55,000 each year. We’ve done this with no paid staff (mainly, the two of us). For a couple of years now it has been clear that we need to raise more money and that it will cost money to raise money.

In the past, we have covered operating expenses out of our own pockets. We promised that every penny of every donation would go to help the refugees and we’ve stayed true to our pledge. Now we have some new supporters. These generous people are helping us to arrange multiyear support for administration and fundraising. With their help, in the interim, we hope to make our fundraising self-sustaining within three years, while continuing to fund relief projects in the border areas.

Recently, a professional business person stepped forward and offered to guide us in our restructuring, saying, “You need to turn your mom and pop operation into a real business”. To that end we are having a Special Board of Directors Meeting (along with volunteers) on August 28th. We expect that soon after that we will hire a part-time administrator, which is a very big step for us.

Instead of simply asking our previous donors for more money, we are looking for ways to spread our message to a wider community. The need is great and our upgraded fundraising will allow us to help many more people. We pledge that we will always send every available penny to help the refugees. Your support is needed now more than ever.

Thank you for whatever you can do,
Inge Sargent

Notes

The film about Inge’s life and Burma Lifeline, mentioned in last year’s newsletter, has yet to be released. You can find out more about the project by going to:
www.extraordinarytv.com/.

We are working on improvements to our website: www.burmalifeline.org. Please check us out. You can help us by telling your friends about our cause and by putting a link to our website in your email signature.

Appeal

This past year, events in Iraq have pretty well captured our attention. Meanwhile, half a world away from us, a regime recently rated as the world’s second worst dictatorship (next to North Korea) continues to do what it has been doing for more than forty years. Please don’t let the gentle people of Burma be forgotten. Any contribution you can make will help these desperate people. Donations are tax deductible. Please make any checks payable to “Burma Lifeline”.

Howard Sargent
Executive Director
Board of Directors
Poppy Copeland
Anthony Craig
Rose Marie Khubchandani
William McNeill (Treasurer)
Robert Pritzker
Howard Sargent (V.P. and Executive Director)
Inge Sargent (President)
Linda Towe (Secretary)

Burma Lifeline - helping refugees from the conflict in Burma since 1996.
www.burmalifeline.org