MYANMAR: VISIONTRUST COMMITS TO HELPING CHILDREN RECENTLY ORPHANED
VisionTrust Founder and CEO, Dr. Ernie Taylor, recently returned from an orphan crisis assessment trip to
Myanmar. The area affected by Cyclone Nargis in May 2008 has killed more than 84,537 people with another
53,836 still missing. Throughout the region, shelter, food and water are scarce; the necessities of life which
were swept away are still needed. The survivors of the cyclone must now deal with flooding due to the
monsoon season which brings daily downpours of rain.
Dr. Taylor went to Myanmar (formerly Burma) to help the VisionTrust staff develop a strategic plan in response
to the thousands of newly orphaned children in the Delta region. He was prevented by the government from
traveling into the devastated areas. Therefore, several church pastors and community leaders from the Delta
region, that VisionTrust has been giving relief supplies to since early May, met him in the city of Yangon.
While in Yangon, Dr. Taylor also met with a friend from UNESCO. He learned that the water wells are
contaminated by sea water and dead animals. The rice paddies have a residue of salt water that inundated the
land. The 200 km/h winds leveled close to 90% of the buildings. The roads were washed away and bridges are
now broken and missing. The government is not allowing children to move outside the affected region and all
cyclone refugees have been ordered back to their hometowns. Dr. Taylor saw pictures of children meeting in
schools that were wrecked by the cyclone. These children are required to sit in school rooms with missing walls
and roofs.
In response, VisionTrust has placed 598 children who need immediate help and protection into six orphanages.
Most of these children are newly orphaned as a result of the cyclone. Their parents are either dead or missing.
Dr. Taylor received videos and stories of death, destruction and survival. He learned that the government has
stopped the local churches from doing relief work. People have been forced to evacuate the safety of churches
and shelters and return to their devastated villages. Most of these people are simple rice farmers who have lost
their homes and livestock.
VisionTrust needs immediate help to secure additional financial resources to care for the newly orphaned and
displaced children and to provide for their long term care.
Please consider helping in the following ways:
• Donate to the “Care Center Fund”: This fund has been created to provide immediate funds for the care of
the children in our six orphanages.
• Sponsor Children: All 598 children need to be sponsored to provide for their education, physical and
medical needs and for their ongoing care. Each sponsorship is $35 per month.
VisionTrust’s mission is to develop orphaned and neglected children into mature Christians equipped to live in
their own culture. This is accomplished by enabling Christian nationals to meet the physical, educational,
emotional and spiritual needs of these children. They currently operate in nine countries and provide care for
over 9,700 children
from Visiontrust.org
- Brad and Faith
