Cyclone Nargis Kills Thousands in Myanmar

Burma (Myanmar) - Partners Relief and Development Pick Up Ointments

GCHope teamed up with Partner’s Relief and Development to send ointments for scabies to help the displaced peoples in Burma (Myanmar).

2009.08.19 by GCHope

Medicines Ship to Burma

With your help, Giving Children Hope was able to send life-saving medicines to Burma. This shipment is part of our ongoing disaster relief efforts.

2009.06.11 by Harmony Trevino

Giving Children Hope President Visits Burma to Deliver Meds

The President of GCHope hand-delivers medicines to the delta in Burma. The region was devastated by Cyclone Nargis in 2008.

2009.05.05 by Harmony Trevino

President Leaves for Burma to Hand-Deliver Meds

President and CEO of Giving Children Hope, John Ditty, has left to Burma to hand-deliver pharmaceuticals. The medicines are going to be delivered to Asia Heartbeat. The pharmaceuticals being delivered include intensive care medicines to treat pneumonia, antihistamine, and antibiotics.

Also included are medicines that topically to relieve itching, burning and pain from skin inflammations, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs commonly used for the reduction of moderate to severe pain, fever, inflammation and stiffness.

The team will be returning on May 4.

2009.04.23 by Harmony Trevino

Health Care and Human Slavery

APHA Reports on the Health Implications of Human Slavery

Human trafficking is a global public health issue. Health issues are ignored until they are critical or life-threatening. Dirty and crowded living conditions, coupled with poor nutrition, cause health conditions such as scabies, tuberculosis and other communicable diseases.

Chronic back, hearing and vision problems may occur from working in dangerous agriculture, sweatshop or construction conditions. Long-term untreated issues such as cardiovascular or respiratory problems, diabetes or cancer may be present. Bruises, scars and other signs of physical abuse and torture may be visible.

Sexually transmitted infections, human papillomavirus, pelvic inflammatory disease, permanent damage to reproductive organs, and HIV/AIDS are often the result of forced prostitution. Victims may be coerced, or in desperation to escape their pain, willingly succumb to drug use.

Victims of trafficking often endure brutal conditions that may result in psychological trauma, such as anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder, disorientation, confusion, phobias and panic attacks. They may suffer feelings of helplessness, shame, humiliation, denial, disbelief or culture shock from being in a strange country.

Malnourishment may be present especially in child victims, as are dental issues. Additionally, children denied social, moral and spiritual development may suffer growth and developmental problems.

2009.03.16 by Harmony Trevino

Taking Action!

When Swe Swe “Dolly” Thynn heard about Giving Children Hope’s efforts to bring relief to Myanmar, she wanted to do her part to help.

Giving Children Hope had already equipped two missionaries with medical aid for the victims of Myanmar, but needed more resources to continue conducting relief efforts.

On Saturday, June 7, Swe Swe brought together the Burmese community of Los Angeles along with Giving Children Hope to host the Burmese Cyclone Relief Fundraiser “A Night of Classical Burmese Theater” at Cal State Long Beach. Check out the photos from that evening

All proceeds from the ticket sales for the even were donated by the local Burmese community of Los Angeles to the victims of Cyclone Nargis, and a special donation was collected specifically for Giving Children Hope’s Myanmar disaster relief efforts.

Thank you, Swe Swe!

Now that’s the power of YOU!

2008.06.12 by

Another Update from Myanmar

Allen Ronk, the missionary Giving Children Hope equipped with water purification tablets for the Myanmar disaster, has come back safely from the country with reports of productive news.

Ronk visited the children in the orphanages where he conducts his ministry. In Myanmar he used 30 percent of the water purification tablets for the people at the orphanage. The other 70 percent of the tablets were taken by a nonprofit group called the Asia Heartbeat. They took the tablets into the Delta region where all the displaced people are centralized.

Ronk reports that the water purification tablets were helpful saying that “[Those displaced by the cyclone] don’t have to worry about disease as the water supplies are all contaminated.”

Giving Children Hope partnered with Ronk from Taft Church in Orange, CA, who had a pre-planned trip and VISA before the cyclone hit and was able to hand carry in water purification tablets.

2008.05.28 by Harmony Trevino

Partner Gives an Update from Field

Allen Ronk, a missionary Giving Children Hope equipped with water purification tablets, writes back to let us know the situation on the ground in Myanmar. Here is a piece of his e-mail:

… All the children are safe. However I saw some pictures from the delta today with piles of dead people laying in pools of water. They had turned black. It was very sad. There will be many more orphans. Although more women and children perished than men.

There is so much to tell that I do not now where to start.

The children are so happy to see us. They warm up to everyone very quickly… Everyday here is good, the people are so loving. Many, many army troops are working to help recovery. Army, civilians side by side working. Old, young… so many people.

Tomorrow will be another long wonderful day.

I am so thankful God has blessed me with being here.

Allen

2008.05.14 by Harmony Trevino

GCH Takes Life-Saving Meds to Myanmar

In June of 2008, to help administer aid to the people who were hit the hardest in Cyclone Nargis. With them, they hand-carried life-saving pharmaceuticals to Myanmar Compassion in Yangoon.

2009.01.30 by

Making a Difference: The Youth Factor and Their Impact on Nonprofits

By Ailin Darling, Communications Intern, Giving Children Hope

In June of 2008, Giving Children Hope, a faith-based nonprofit that distributes humanitarian aid, sent a small team to Myanmar to deliver aid to areas affected by Cyclone Nargis. Equipped with medical supplies and bundles of necessities, the team negotiated their way from the country’s capital to a small, isolated village in the Irrawaddy delta. The six seasoned travelers formed a diverse group: a globe-trotting missionary, a doctor and co-founder of Global Medical Brigades, a veteran YMCA affiliate, the director of Giving Children Hope’s Indonesia office, the president and founder of Giving Children Hope, and his son, Jonathan Ditty, a college student. Despite his young age, 18-year-old Ditty has been participating in disaster relief efforts for years, and has grown and matured through his experiences.

More and more young people are becoming involved in community service and volunteer work, largely to fulfill school requirements and impress colleges. But service by students can be more than just an exchange of a few hours work for what they need to put on paper. Many students are finding volunteer work to be an enjoyable, rewarding and important learning experience, and organizations are discovering that they too can learn from their youthful contributors.

At age 15, Ditty went to Sumatra, Indonesia just a few months after the tsunami hit the region. This was to be his first of many disaster relief trips, and the first of four to Indonesia. However, as he recalls the things he saw in Myanmar, he notes the recent trip as truly unique. “People were living off of nothing, most of everything got wiped away by the cyclone… but I’ve never been received like that or had so much thankfulness from any group of people,” says Ditty. He contributed his talents to the trip (he assisted the doctor in a makeshift medical clinic), but he believes he gained even more from the experience. The soon-to-be sophomore at the University of California, Los Angeles describes himself as “blessed” by these opportunities, and asserts that his experiences with international aid inspired him to study medicine and become a doctor. He currently works part time at Giving Children Hope’s distribution center.

Though Ditty has the advantage of his family’s involvement with international aid, his growth through service is hardly unique. During the summer months, Giving Children Hope has approximately 25 young volunteers per week helping with inventory, cleaning and repairing facilities and sorting through donated medical supplies. These tasks may be simple, but the contribution to the organization is wholeheartedly felt by its staff. “Containers are full of medical supplies because volunteers sort them,” says Volunteer Coordinator Melissa Strauss, “Missionaries are able to carry hundreds of pounds of medicine to malnourished and sick people in foreign countries because volunteers sort and stock the medicine in our Mission Store.”

Although many young volunteers are fulfilling a school requirement, most acknowledge that they get something more out of the experience than completed volunteer hours. Student Michael Kim was surprised to find that volunteer service is a more enjoyable and rewarding way to spend the summer than playing computer games. “Once in a while you should have new experiences. It makes you a better person,” he says.
Strauss is grateful for the presence of students at Giving Children Hope. “Youth come in and have so much energy and optimism,” she says. “Young volunteers usually have a lot of questions about the products they sort, or where they are going,” says Strauss, “they are not satisfied with just the work, but are inquisitive with the process of what we do as an organization.” Such curiosity enables these kids and young adults to develop an understanding of domestic and international aid, a process that is largely taken for granted or unknown by adults. They also learn that helping the less fortunate can mean more than giving financially. Jenise Steverding, Giving Children Hope’s Director of Advancement, acknowledges that volunteers often have more to offer than a few hours of labor. She points out the growing use of social networks such as Facebook by nonprofit organizations as an example of what the younger generation has to offer. “They bring new and innovative ideas, new networks; they are as much a part of the success of our projects as staff and donors,” says Steverding. Giving Children Hope has seen these benefits of acquiring volunteers in the youth population and recently built a partnership with Global Medical Brigades, the world’s largest student-led international relief organization, to bring in more young volunteers and interns.

Volunteers like Jonathan Ditty and Michael Kim have learned not to underestimate the value and power of helping those in need. After reflecting on the impact that service has made on their lives, their opinion on volunteering is clear: Do it. “It doesn’t have to be international; there are all sorts of local places where you can volunteer to the homeless, to neighborhoods that have basically nothing,” says Ditty. “Once you go to places like that you get a better understanding for people, and that is something that you’re going to carry with you for the rest of your life.”

The staff at Giving Children Hope has learned the importance of fostering growth in a new generation and has experienced the benefits of a youth perspective. “[Volunteering] empowers them to make a difference regardless of their age,” concludes Strauss. “We all know that while in your teens, confidence boosters go a long way.” Steverding adds, “They get to participate with their time and talent in making a difference in the world… We like to say at Giving Children Hope, ‘This is YOUR world, this is YOUR organization’ and through the use of volunteers it literally is their organization.”

2008.07.30 by

GCH Returns from Myanmar

On July 2nd, Giving Children Hope’s medical team returned from a two week trip to Myanmar.

The team included Giving Children Hope’s founder and president, John Ditty, his son Jonathan, missionaries Stacy Long and Dan Behrens, medical student Duffy Casey and Herman Waruwu from GCH’s office in Indonesia. Upon reaching Myanmar, the team partnered with I Love Myanmar, a local organization working to bring relief to those affected by Cyclone Nargis.

The team flew first to Rangoon, Myanmar’s capital, and spent days networking, negotiating and attending meetings in order to procure a way into the Irrawaddy Delta, a region severely affected by the cyclone and largely denied foreign aid.

Finally, the team was flown into the village of Daunt Gyi by a United Nations helicopter. Once in Daunt Gyi, the team delivered care packages and medicine, treated patients, held health and hygiene clinics and assessed the greatest needs of the region.

Stacy Long, who spent his days praying over illnesses and preaching the Gospel to the villagers, wrote of the experience in his online blog. “The Lord did unprecedented and shocking things while we were there. We paved the way for other teams and ministries to get into the delta much easier, faster and stay longer than anyone had been able to before.”

Giving Children Hope was one of the first non-governmental organizations to enter the delta and administer aid to its inhabitants. The region’s needs are great and range from rampant medical epidemics to loss of livestock and housing.

Cyclone Nargis left over 2 million homeless and took the lives of 100,000 Burmese people.

2008.07.06 by

GCH Team Travels to Myanmar

Giving Children Hope has sent out their own medical team to Myanmar where they have been assessing what the greatest needs are in the area, bringing medicine and working with doctors, and working to open up distribution channels for the last two weeks.

Giving Children Hope is one of the first NGO’s to use helicopters to send aid to the delta.

Giving Children Hope’s efforts have included:

• Partnering with three different missionaries to provide water purification tablets, antibiotics, and water filter bottles into the country. Most of this aid was taken into the delta region where most of the displaced people are centralized.

• Working to solidify a partner on ground to bring in medical supplies.

2009.01.30 by

Los Angeles Burmese Community to Hold Fundraiser

On Saturday, June 7, the Burmese community of Los Angeles is partnering with Giving Children Hope to bring aid to the Myanmar community affected by the cyclone.

The Burmese Cyclone Relief Fundraiser, “A Night of Classical Burmese Theater” will be held at Cal State Long Beach at 6:30 P.M. at the Richard & Karen Performing Arts Center; 6200 Atherton Street, Long Beach 90815. There will be Burmese cultural dancers and other local talent.

All proceeds from the ticket sales for this event will be donated by the local Burmese community of Los Angeles to the victims of Cyclone Nargis.

A special donation will be asked that evening for Giving Children Hope’s disaster relief efforts in Myanmar.

Download the event flyer

2008.05.28 by

GCH provides another Medical Missions Team with medicines

Giving Children Hope helped equip World Medical Mission with disaster relief materials in his attempt to help the victims of the Nargis Cyclone.

GCH provided WMM with antibiotic ointment, infant suppositories, water purification tablets and water filter bottles.

Giving Children Hope helps organizations like World Medical Mission to partner in bringing aid to those who need it most.

2008.06.05 by

Water Purification Tablets in the Field Saving Lives

Giving Children Hope’s field partner equipped with water purification tablets for the Myanmar disaster in the first week, has come back safely from the country with reports of productive news.

Our partner visited the children in the orphanages where he conducts his ministry. Thirty percent of the water purification tablets were distributed at the orphanage. The additional 70 percent of the tablets were distributed by Asia Heartbeat in the Irrawaddy Delta.

The reports states that the water purification tablets were helpful saying that “[Those displaced by the cyclone] don’t have to worry about disease as the water supplies are all contaminated.”

Giving Children Hope partnered with Taft Church in Orange, CA, who had a pre-planned trip and VISA before the cyclone hit and was able to hand carry in water purification tablets.

2008.05.28 by