In one visit to Sittwe, this fantastic photographer, Stefania Zamparelli gets and gives a clear picture of what is happening to the people in Myanmar. Read her interview and look at her photographs here.
I visited the boy whose picture was featured in her article last month. Here’s a version I took. Partners Relief & Development has been providing his cerebral palsy medicine to treat him for a year now, and I stopped by to see how he was doing and pray for him. The mom tearfully thanked me and said her boy was doing much better after a year of consistent treatment.
Our team also met Anjuma Begum on the same trip. If you look at the article you will see a revolting photo of human misery. Team member Matt Byrd gave her some pain relieving medicine and Steve Hayes prayed for her. She died a few days later.
The systematic denial of justice and the mockery of getting permission from the very regime who is killing these people is infuriating. The deception involved with agencies getting permission to construct a structure, school, or clinic, for the photo op’s but never being granted permission to staff or provide services like food and healthcare is equally sick.
Helping these people, playing by the rules, is “illegal”. And that is immoral. That’s why we are there.
140,000 people living in 5 square kilometers of flood plains, surrounded by barbed wire, police, and soldiers, are slowly being killed. Be angry.
And again, please read this article.