The CATHOLIC DIOCESE of DODGE CITY

Serving the People of Southwest Kansas

Help Families in Myanmar Devastated by Cyclone Nargis

 

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CNS Photos
The United Nations estimates that up to a million people may have been left homeless in the wake of Cyclone Nargis. "It could not have happened in a worse stretch of land. With the tidal surge at 12 to 15 feet, presumably thousands of people living along the [Irrawaddy] Delta were simply washed away," says Pat Johns, director of Catholic Relief Services' emergency response team.

Right-click here to download pictures. To help protect your privacy, Outlook prevented automatic download of this picture from the Internet. Donate to Cyclone ReliefCRS is supporting the emergency relief and response efforts of the Caritas Internationalis network in the most affected areas of Myanmar after Cyclone Nargis brought a deadly tidal surge across the low-lying coastal areas of the country on Saturday.

The latest reports are that 60,000 people are dead or missing and 1 million are homeless. These numbers are expected to rise. The level of devastation is still difficult to assess as communications remain spotty and news trickles out of the country. Conditions are dire. Food, water and basic shelter are urgently needed.

Please donate now to help CRS provide relief to the thousands of families affected by this tragic disaster.

For more than 60 years, CRS has supported long-term development programs and emergency relief efforts—including responses to cyclones and other natural disasters—in the regions of Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

 

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CRS is the official international relief and development organization of the U.S. Catholic Community.
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Catholic Relief Services
228 W. Lexington Street
Baltimore, MD 21201-3413

 

Relief efforts reach 40,000 people

SKR interview with Fr. Martin

From Father Benjamin Martin:

"I have not any contact with my family since before the storm.  I am hoping that they are OK because their home is not in the path of the storm.  I heard from Fr. Tom, who is also a Burmese priest and who serves in the Wichita Diocese.  He said that one parish called Aingma by the sea is completely wiped out.  My cousin is a pastor there with his associate.  But I did not get any official news from the Bishop of Pathein yet.  It will take a while.  The town of Laputta which was in my first assigned parish also was completely wiped out and over a thousand people lost their lives.  I am not sure if my former parishioners are included or not.  This is the first time I ever heard of such a strong storm in Burma." 

From Bishop Ronald M. Gilmore:

"We have not heard about Fathers Francis Zan, Zeno YeSwe, and Pius TaCaw who have formerly served in our diocese and are currently at home in Myanmar.

 We hold them and all those affected in our prayer even as we seek to provide what assistance we are able."