By BGR Staff
In August and September, Buddhist Global Relief made several emergency donations to support critical aid for people affected by the Covid pandemic in Sri Lanka, the earthquake in Haiti, and the ongoing crisis in Myanmar.
According to longtime BGR partner Oxfam International, Covid has resulted in 20 million more people experiencing extreme levels of hunger this year, bringing the total of hungry people to 155 million. Around the world, our partners are working to meet the needs of those whom they serve.
Karuna Trust, a trusted BGR partner in Sri Lanka, has been distributing food to people in severe need in Anuradhapura, Hambantota, Mulathive, Galle, and Kalutara Districts. As Covid has swept through impoverished areas, a dearth of food has exacerbated the risk of severe illness, and our partner has witnessed the deaths of hundreds of people, including pregnant women and children. An emergency grant of $3,000 from BGR provided support for Karuna Trust’s project to provide food to hundreds of families in need. BGR has also arranged for the distribution of food parcels to needy families through the John Keells Group, one of the largest holding companies in Sri Lanka.
In Haiti, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake on August 14 took the lives of more than 2,000 people and left hundreds of thousands without shelter or access to safe drinking water. The destruction of schools and hospitals caused further suffering in a region that has been struck hard by Covid. Flooded roads slowed humanitarian support on the island.
BGR partner CARE quickly mobilized to provide displaced families with tents and tarps for shelter, drinking water, hygiene kits, and handwashing stations. The project also provided tools such as wheelbarrows and sledgehammers to support communities in the efforts of rebuilding the homes and other structures that were lost. An emergency donation from BGR of $5,000 supported these and related efforts.
Since 2017, the Myanmar government and military have been engaged in an active persecution of the Rohingya people; as a result of this, more than 700,000 people were forced from their homes in that year alone. Under the direction of Hozan Alan Senauke, the Clearview Project is a partner organization within the International Network of Engaged Buddhists that provides food assistance and other humanitarian aid in Myanmar, Bangladesh, and India. An emergency donation from BGR to the Clearview Project of $2,500, provided food assistance to Rohingya refugees from Myanmar living in Bangladesh. In June, BGR made an emergency donation of $2,500 to Better Burma, to provide food relief to those being persecuted by the military junta, both laypeople and monastics.
Photo: Distribution of food parcels by Karuna Trust in Sri Lanka
