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| May 31, 2008 |
Aid workers and governments around the world have asked to enter Myanmar to help stranded victims of the cyclone, but the government, a wretched regime, has denied them access and largely refused assistance. ...so it's the monks to the rescue.
Monks Succeed in Cyclone Relief as Junta Falters
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: May 31, 2008
KUN WAN, Myanmar - They paddle for hours on the stormy river, or carry their sick parents on their backs through the mud and rain, traveling for miles to reach the one source of help they can rely on: Buddhist monks.
With little help from the government, refugees were fed by a monastery near Yangon.
A monk organized relief donations this week for people left homeless by the cyclone. This monastery, outside of Yangon, has become a temporary shelter.
At a makeshift clinic in this village near Bogale, an Irrawaddy Delta town 75 miles southwest of Yangon, hundreds of villagers left destitute by Cyclone Nargis arrive each day seeking the assistance they have not received from the government or international aid workers.
Since the cyclone, the Burmese have been growing even closer to the monks while their alienation from the junta grows. This development bodes ill for the government, which brutally cracked down on thousands of monks who took to the streets last September appealing to the ruling generals to improve conditions for the people.
Read the full article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/31/world/asia/31myanmar.html?th&emc=th