A powerful earthquake has struck Myanmar, claiming the lives of more than 2,000 people and leaving countless others struggling to rebuild their lives.
Annie Loewen, interim director for disaster response at Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Canada, says the organization has been programming in Myanmar since 1996.
“We have lots of experience providing things like food assistance, blankets, medical care, cash assistance to previous emergencies like Cyclone Nargis in 2008. But currently, we're working with our partners to determine what is the situation. Some of our partners are providing food and water to people who have lost their homes.”
She says that extreme heat is worsening the crisis.
“Part of the issue is that it’s also 40 degrees in Myanmar right now, which is just so hot and combined with this earthquake, it's impacting people severely, so we're working with our partners on what are the long-term plans for us as well.”
MCC aims to provide financial assistance so those affected can purchase essential supplies for survival.
“We're hoping to get as much as of that done in the next coming days as we can,” she says.
While there are currently no Manitobans with MCC in Myanmar, Loewen says that Manitobans can still offer support.
“I was at church on Sunday and already our church congregation was talking about sending prayers and thinking about those in Myanmar. Definitely, we invite as much prayer support as people can give. There's so much need. If people have the resources to give monetarily through donations to MCC or to other organizations responding, that is definitely a way to get support to people who need it as quickly as possible,” Loewen explains.
MCC is actively seeking donations through their website.
“You'll see on the landing page that we're calling for donations for our response in Myanmar. We've already had churches donate. We've had our constituents here in Manitoba and across Canada also donate. So, we would encourage anyone who has the resources to support and feels that call to support, please do. Think about giving.”
MCC currently has no missionaries in Myanmar, but there are Mennonite churches in the country.
“These are local national churches that are also responding. We've heard that their members are safe, although many have been impacted by either having damage to their home or feeling impact in other ways, but we are hoping to respond through our church partners in Myanmar as well to support their communities.”
The impact of the earthquake is large and Loewen is certain that even more people will need support.
“7.7 magnitude is very large. For context, the 2010 earthquake in Haiti was a 7.0. The 2015 earthquake in Nepal was 7.8, so we're looking at extensive damage and we know that people are going to need those basic things like food and water and shelter in the coming days. For the next few months.”
She adds that this will have long-term impacts on Myanmar residents.
“People have lost their livelihoods. Things like water systems will be completely rerouted because of this, and there's that long-term recovery aspect that also needs to be considered. So, we just would pray that those who have the resources would be able to give and we definitely pray for all of those in Myanmar as they're trying to sort through this crisis situation.”
To support MCC's relief efforts, visit MCC.org or click here.
With files from Adi Loewen