SINGAPORE – Yesterday I met with the Ambassador who was very happy to hear about Operation Blessing’s willingness to respond, but he indicated that he is waiting for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to give the green light to issue visas. He said that all communication is down, travel is difficult, and he purchased many satellite phones for his government. He is doing his best to get us into Myanmar.

As aid workers continue to wrestle with the visa issue, the situation in Myanmar is just getting worse. Hopefully we will be able to get into Myanmar soon.

Our teams in Thailand, China, Indonesia and the Philippines are also standing by, waiting for visa approvals. A team of doctors with Humedica, our German partner, is also in Bangkok waiting for their visa.

I attended an NGO meeting in Singapore, all of whom are ready to deploy once the door is opened. But all are facing the same issue on visas. A couple of the representatives from the NGO’s were Myanmar nationals who became emotional as they shared what was happening in their country.

Sadly, they have not been able to contact a number of their friends and family and are unsure of their whereabouts. As I am writing this, I just got a call from a friend who said that many of her friends from Myanmar who are working with her are not able to get in touch with their families. As the death toll number increases, it is bringing fear on their hearts.

One of them was able to talk to some friends in-country and told them that they were coming to help them. They answered, “Please help us…we have nothing. Bring your own food…we cannot provide for you. We have nothing.”

They also indicated that the roads are okay but in some of the most affected areas only boats can be used. I’ve been involved in a number of disaster relief situations, but I cannot even begin to imagine the plight that is going on there.

All we could do now is to pray for the people in Myanmar.

If you would like to get involved in OBI’s disaster relief efforts, including aid to cyclone victims in Myanmar, click here to make an online donation.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 8th, 2008 at 8:54 am and is filed under Asia, Kumar Periasamy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.