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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 12, 2008
Contact: Joy Portella 206-437-7885 or Susan Laarman 503-341-3799
- First of four aid workers enters Yangon tomorrow
Portland, OR - Four Mercy Corps aid workers will enter Myanmar this week including three emergency response experts from the agency's Global Emergency Response team, GEO. The agency's first humanitarian expert enters Myanmar capital Yangon Tuesday - Mervyn Lee who is Director of Mercy Corps Europe. Nine days into the crisis, Mercy Corps staff emphasize the importance of using experienced emergency response workers to lead recovery efforts.
Following a rapid assessment of the situation, Mercy Corps aid workers will help with emergency response efforts and coordination working closely with local groups and other international aid organizations on the ground. Staff at Mercy Corps' international headquarters in Portland are exploring options for sending material aid to the country.
Mercy Corps officials remain hopeful that the Myanmar government will allow more humanitarian assistance in the coming days. Top concerns of Mercy Corps staff include clean water, food and sanitation for hundreds of thousands affected by the cyclone. Current death toll estimates are more than 30,000, but international agencies fear it could be much higher.
Updates from aid workers will be posted on Mercy Corps web site www.mercycorps.org.
Mercy Corps is currently accepting donations for humanitarian assistance to cyclone victims. Distribution of donations will be monitored by Mercy Corps and reputable local partner organizations.
HOW TO HELP:
Mercy Corps
Myanmar Cyclone Fund
Dept NR
PO Box 2669
Portland, OR 97208
www.mercycorps.org
1-800-852-2100
About Mercy Corps:
Mercy Corps works amid disasters, conflicts, chronic poverty and instability to unleash the potential of people who can win against nearly impossible odds. Since 1979, Mercy Corps has provided $1.5 billion in assistance to people in 106 nations. Supported by headquarters offices in North America and Europe, the agency's unified global programs employ 3,500 staff worldwide and reach nearly 16.4 million people in more than 35 countries.
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[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
Residents wait as people from a non-governmental organization arrive to donate rice at a Cyclone Nargis-hit village in Bogalay, southwest of Yangon in this picture taken June 25, 2008. Picture taken ...
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