Show the Way to Help the People, the Money Will Come
By Jawahar Malhotra
Last Updated: May 23, 2008

HOUSTON – With a sense of impending doom hovering in their minds, a small group of community activists from the Indian and Burmese communities got together at the Madras Pavilion restaurant in Sugar Land to brainstorm ways to send aid to those in greatest need from the devastation wrecked by 135 mph winds of Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar on May 2.

The function was organized by the India Culture Center and led by its President, Bangar Reddy, included several Indians of Burmese descent, such as Pradeep Shah, an engineer who was born and brought up in Yangon (formerly known as Rangoon) till he was 16; Sam Kannappan whose family had a business there till 1963, and Madras Pavilion co-owner, Rajan Radhakrsihnan, whose family had many contacts in Myanmar.

The Burmese delegation was led by Burmese American Association of Texas (BAAT) President Myo Aye Thane who spoke of the deep-rooted political, cultural and religious ties between the two countries going back for several centuries. He gave a general background of the Burmese-American community and it’s activities in the Houston area.

He was followed by Dr. Htut Win, a cardiologist who gave a Powerpoint presentation of the scope of the damage to an area the size of Belgium, showing slides of the devastation in which upto 100,000 people have been killed. “Burma has gone from being the world’s largest rice exporter right after World War II to a net rice importer before the cyclone”, Win explained.

Win and the follow-up speakers Robert Chan and Aye Khaing spoke of three organizations that have been identified as possible vehicles for funneling much needed funds to the affected area. These are Charitable Alliance of Burmese Americans (CABA), a California based group; the Theravada Dhamma Society of America (TDSA) pear headed by the extremely popular monk, Sitagu Sayadaw, and CARE International.

Of these, the speakers spoke admiringly of Sitagu, whose efforts have been able to bring 1,000 tons of rice and 2,000 sheets of aluminum sheeting to the damaged area. This, he is able to do through the network of monasteries spread throughout the country and which have the greatest respect of the people and the authoritarian regime.

Those willing to help by contributing may send in their checks to BAAT which will then send in one large check to each of the three organizations. For further information, BAAT at 281-565-0364 or the Asian American Family Society at 713-339-3688.

The Burmese American Association of Texas (BAAT) can be reached at P.O. Box 3359, Sugar Land, Texas 77487. For more information, viist www.baatx.org or email at baat.hou@gmail.com