How can we help Burma?

Many of you have been asking us if Hle Bee School is OK following Cyclone Nargis. School parents have been saying, 'Is our wee school in Thailand OK? How can we help them?'

The good news is that our wee school is OK. Mae Sot is far from the disaster area in the south of Burma. Our friends are all safe and well.

The dreadful news is that so many Burmese people have been killed, injured and gone missing. Check out http://www.irrawaddy.org/ to see current estimates of the number of Burmese people affected. Irrawaddy's pictures show the despair of those left, who are unhelped by either the Burmese junta or the aid agencies who are not allowed into Burma.

When we were in Thailand last summer, we visited an outstanding Swiss charity called Child's Dream. They wrote to us to say that they have local people and organisations who can get aid directly into the people who are suffering most.

'While the UN and international NGOs await visas for Burma in Bangkok and the few emergency relief supplies are blindly handed over to the military regime, some of our partner organizations from the Thai - Burma border have put together an Emergency Assistance Team. This team is currently on the ground in Rangoon and the Irrawaddy Delta and is working with networks of community based organizations and concerned individuals. The team is split into 8 groups with 5 members each. They are distributing water purification tablets, procuring rice and other food, building shelters and repairing houses, assisting with cremations, and providing basic medical treatments, including oral rehydration supplementation.'

If you want to get help directly to the Burmese people who really need it, we recommend supporting Child's Dream. You will find details on their website - http://www.childsdream.org/.

Forthview children have started to make and sell Saffron ribbons for £1 again. Each £1 goes straight to Child's Dream's appeal. Contact Forthview on 0131 332 2468 or via Headteacher@forthview.edin.sch.uk if you want ribbons to sell.