We received this from Christian Blind Mission Australia

Wednesday, 07 May 2008

Dear CBM Friends,

As I write this email it’s only 4 days since the disastrous cyclone struck Burma. Each day the death toll mounts, and the stories of horror and loss grow worse.

In these times of emergencies, email is the quickest way to inform you of CBM news, prayer points and how the vulnerable people we work with have been affected.

Already, the death toll has reached 50,000 – expected to double within days - and 3 million more are homeless. Reports say this is the worst disaster in the country’s modern history.

With a 12-foot tidal wave that followed, some are reporting a scale comparable with the Boxing Day Tsunami.

Our focus at CBM is people with disabilities, and their families.

Like you, we know that tragically people with disabilities are likely to suffer worst in natural disasters – imagine being blind and trying to escape.

And even if they do manage to survive, children and families with disability can be lost or forgotten in the chaos that follows.

We at CBM have committed $30,000 to our local partner in Burma to make sure that people at risk of tragic diseases like Trachoma are reached and given the medicines they need – especially during this time when transport and water supplies have been so disrupted.

We are world leaders is this preventative eye care. CBM has already been working in the region with local partners for over 20 years. They know the region and how best serve them.

We know that families forced from their homes, especially those with disabilities, will continue to need help over many months, and years, to come. We must not allow people with disability in Burma to be forgotten.

What’s worse, local health workers fear a water-borne epidemic that could potentially kill and disable many more people.

This is why we need your help today. You have been so faithful with your support. Thank you, we are deeply grateful.

CBM Friends, we don’t want you to feel that you are expected to respond, but rather we invite you to pray and give only if you are able.

While other agencies are providing aid and relief to the general population, at CBM we focusing long-term on what we do best – reaching the most vulnerable – those with or at risk of disability.

If you feel it in your heart to give, your help today will ensure that people with disability in Burma will continue to receive the medical help they so desperately need.

Thank you for your gifts and prayers. They are so much appreciated.

Yours in His service,

John Jeffries
National Director

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