Saturday, 30 June 2012
The Allen Family on their way to CDC
Gaynor Allen, David Lee, Maya, Seth, Imogen and Livvy Allan are on their way to CDC School, Mae Sot and to Rangoon, Burma. Follow their journey on www.ourthaiburmatrip.wordpress.com. (30.6.12)
Wednesday, 27 June 2012
CDC Boarders need food... please help.....
We are currently facing a very severe funding shortage of 18 million Thai Baht (US $600,000 or £364,000) and urgently need your support in helping us run our key services until the end of the year.
Despite the recent changes in Burma, we have yet to see a fall in patient numbers or a decrease in the number of children seeking protection and education. The continuing need for vital health and education services for the border community is evident, but it is becoming more of a struggle to raise the funds needed to continue our activities. We have not received enough donations to cover our funding needs in 2012, which will unfortunately lead to cuts in staff and services unless we receive further support.
In June, just days before World Refugee Day, the clinic held a series of emergency meetings to decide on measures that would minimise the funding shortfall. It was agreed that, effective immediately, staff would receive a 20% cut to their stipend. This will be very hard for everyone when our staff’s average salary is only 4000 baht (approximately £75) per month.
We will also have to reduce the number of staff at Mae Tao Clinic, which is also very distressing; Mae Tao Clinic is not just a workplace for our staff, it is also a home. 95% of our staff are displaced people from Burma.
We are also going to have to reduce our services; this may include any non-essential services and any non-emergency referrals. We are currently also very worried that we will be unable to continue providing dry food rations to the 3,000 unaccompanied children staying in boarding houses.
If there were genuine change in Burma, we would see fewer patients, since Burmese government hospitals would be fully equipped to deal with our caseload and provide affordable health services. We would no longer have such large numbers of unaccompanied children, separated from their families in order to access education or to escape from the threats of forced labour.
Until the day there is genuine peace in Burma and the government can provide quality health and education to all of its people, Mae Tao Clinic will continue serve those in need. But we really need more support to do this. To make a donation, please visit our donate page. Please also pass this urgent message on to your friends and family.
Despite the recent changes in Burma, we have yet to see a fall in patient numbers or a decrease in the number of children seeking protection and education. The continuing need for vital health and education services for the border community is evident, but it is becoming more of a struggle to raise the funds needed to continue our activities. We have not received enough donations to cover our funding needs in 2012, which will unfortunately lead to cuts in staff and services unless we receive further support.
We will also have to reduce the number of staff at Mae Tao Clinic, which is also very distressing; Mae Tao Clinic is not just a workplace for our staff, it is also a home. 95% of our staff are displaced people from Burma.
We are also going to have to reduce our services; this may include any non-essential services and any non-emergency referrals. We are currently also very worried that we will be unable to continue providing dry food rations to the 3,000 unaccompanied children staying in boarding houses.
If there were genuine change in Burma, we would see fewer patients, since Burmese government hospitals would be fully equipped to deal with our caseload and provide affordable health services. We would no longer have such large numbers of unaccompanied children, separated from their families in order to access education or to escape from the threats of forced labour.
Until the day there is genuine peace in Burma and the government can provide quality health and education to all of its people, Mae Tao Clinic will continue serve those in need. But we really need more support to do this. To make a donation, please visit our donate page. Please also pass this urgent message on to your friends and family.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)