Officials at the Valparaiso-based Kids Alive International aid organization received a distressing e-mail Thursday morning from the cyclone ravaged country of Myanmar.
"We are in urgent need of help," the note reads. "The children are using dirty water."
The note came in the wake of news that one of the organization's homes for orphaned and abandoned children was destroyed by the storm, another lost its roof and the status of a third is unknown, said David Spurdle, director of Kids Alive UK.
Thursday's e-mail also reported a bag of rice capable of feeding a family of five has quadrupled in price to $40 and three eggs now cost $1, he said. The average monthly salary in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, is $8.
"So you could imagine how bad it is for folks there," Spurdle said.
While relief efforts have reportedly been held up by Myanmar's insular military junta, Spurdel said the Christian-based Kids Alive organization has operated in the country for 10 years and has the connections necessary to deliver help.
"We have a conduit getting money in," he said.
Donations can be made at kidsalive.org or by calling 1-800-KIDS-330.
Aid is also getting through from the Friends of Burma group in Fort Wayne, which happens to be home to the country's largest Burmese refugee population, said President Neil Sowards.
While most of the city's 3,500 to 4,000 Burmese refugees are from areas unaffected by Saturday's cyclone, Sowards said the American Baptist-based aid organization has already released $20,000 in aid. The group has also released 200 mosquito nets, which are needed to combat the spread of malaria and the potential of the death toll rising far beyond the 100,000 believed to be dead already.
The aid is needed most in the urban areas, such as Yangon, as compared to the rural delta areas that are more resourceful, Sowards said.
"They give them a knife and digging tool, and they can build a home in a week," he said.
Friends of Burma has been providing aid to that country since 1985.
Tax deductible donations should be made out to Friends of Burma, labeled for Burma relief and mailed to 548 Home Ave., Fort Wayne, IN, 46807.
