Australia
Myanmar (Burma) Cyclone
- Donate online
- Download a Myanmar (Burma) cyclone donation form [Adobe PDF, 69 Kb] and post it or fax it to us, or
- Call our toll free number 1800 76 00 11 and donate over the phone.
- Send us a cheque/money order payable to Save the Children Australia. Forward it to Burma Emergency Appeal, Save the Children, PO Box 340, Fitzroy VIC 3065. Make sure to enclose your name and address for receipting purposes.
- Help us raise more funds by getting your relatives, friends and colleagues to donate to this emergency. Click here for an easy way to assist.
- Donate to Save the Children at The Body Shop - keep an eye out for our donation tins in all stores around Australia.
- Donate to the Save the Children China Myanmar Burma Appeal at your local ANZ branch.
Aid is getting through and we are reaching people who need our help.
Unofficial UN estimates put the death toll at 216,000, with 2.4 million affected, around 2 million homeless and 220,000 missing.
Save the Children has now reached a total of approximately 563,196 of the 1.3 million people reached by aid agencies.
In four Yangon townships we've distributed over 175 tons of relief supplies to affected families throughout the region. Supplies have included rice, water, oral-rehydration solution, blankets and materials for cooking and shelter. The Department of Social Welfare has granted Save the Children an official letter to state that we are ‘official partners’ in this emergency response.
As families affected by Cyclone Nargis continue their struggle to recover from the disaster, Save the Children, one of the biggest aid agencies operating in Myanmar (Burma), is focusing its attention on getting children back to school.
"Education is vital, and it becomes even more important in the aftermath of an emergency when families are trying hard to regain some sense of normal life for their children" said Country Director Andrew Kirkwood. "Schools are a safe place for children, allowing them to be with other children, to play and to begin dealing with the trauma they have experienced."
"From our experience of responding to emergencies all over the world, education is too frequently under-funded and under-recognised in an emergency response. Investment in education after an emergency is an investment in a child's recovery and the best way to improve the life of affected children and young people."
Save the Children has set up child friendly spaces in camps across the affected areas, which give children a safe place to play and helps them deal with the trauma they have experienced. The child friendly spaces also help trained Save the Children staff to identify and support children who have been separated from their parents by the disaster.
Save the Children is also providing health services through the operations of a floating clinic and several other mobile clinics.
Due to our presence in the country before the cyclone, we were able to provide immediate support to the affected communities. Nevertheless, we urgently need to scale up our response to reach more of the surviving children and families and deliver what we know they need. Lack of food and shelter, access to clean water, and education as well as being separated from parents are among those issues still faced by children in the remote delta areas.
Save the Children has worked in Myanmar for 13 years and has 500 staff in the country, with 300 of them now working on the emergency response. Save the Children is working in 14 of the 15 most affected townships in Yangon and the Ayererwaddy Delta.
Now we're also responding to the children affected by the China earthquake. Click here to see you can help.
Eye witness accounts
Andrew Kirkwood, Save the Children's Country Director of Burma, is writing a blog of his experience for BBC online. Read the blog here.
Andrew Kirkwood talks to Channel 4 News about combating the challenges of disease and shortages following the devastation caused by cyclone Nargis. Watch the footage here.
Aid worker Guy Cave - Deputy Country Director for Save the Children - writes a diary from Rangon or The Telegraph about efforts to reach those in need.
Andrew Kirkwood talks to Channel 4 News about combating the challenges of disease and shortages following the devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis. Watch the video
Stories from children affected by the cyclone
Diary of an aid worker
One family's struggle
A special thank you to:
Transfield Services for donating $50,000 to our appeal
Alumina Limited for donating $10,000 to our appeal
The Body Shop for putting Myanmar appeal collection tins in all their Australian stores
Bunnings for holding a sausage sizzle in all their stores where all proceeds went to our appeal
Our supporters who have donated so generously to the appeal so far
We still need your help. Critical supplies are still needed - plastic sheeting, water purification tablets, cooking sets, mosquito nets, emergency health kits and food - please donate now:
- Donate online
- Download a Myanmar Burma Cyclone Donation Form [Adobe PDF, 69 Kb] and post it or fax it to us, or
- Call our toll free number 1800 76 00 11 and donate over the phone.
- Send us a cheque/money order payable to Save the Children Australia. Forward it to Burma Emergency Appeal, Save the Children, PO Box 340, Fitzroy VIC 3065. Make sure to enclose your name and address for receipting purposes.
- Help us raise more funds by getting your relatives, friends and colleagues to donate to this emergency. Click here for an easy way to assist.
- Donate to Save the Children at The Body Shop - keep an eye out for our donation tins in stores around Australia.
- Donate to the Save the Children Myanmar Burma Cyclone Appeal at your local ANZ branch.