Water Missions International (WMI), a US-based non-profit Christian engineering organization,
said it could install some 12 installations, including in Maubin, a township of the heavily-populated Irrawaddy Delta region in southwest Burma, also known as Myanmar.
WMI said besides providing sustainable access to safe water in Burma and other countries,
it also hopes to spread the "Living Water" message, a reference to spreading personal faith
in Jesus Christ.
"Two staff members from WMI’s Indonesian office are on the ground in Yangon", also known as Rangoon, "working with the Burmese government and ministry partners to coordinate site selections and installations for the remaining 11 water systems," the group added.
10,000 GALLONS
It said that each system, assembled by volunteers, provides a continuous supply of approximately 10,000 gallons per day. The system can be rapidly deployed and installed in a few hours to purify available surface and shallow well-water sources, WMI added.
Cyclone Nargis, a Category 3 storm, ripped though Burma Saturday, May 3, left around 140,000 dead or missing and severely affected around 2.4 million people, according to United Nations estimates. "More than two months after the event, safe drinking water still tops the list of urgent needs," WMI said.
WMI’s arrival in the country was seen as remarkable, as faith-based foreign groups have been struggling to reach the country. Some have used backpack medics cooperating with underground churches and the predominantly Christian Karen community to reach Christians and other families, BosNewsLife monitored.
Yet, the UN has said that more aid is needed. On Friday, July 11, it appealed to international donors for $482 million as assistance for victims of the devastating cyclone Nargis, which would support 103 aid projects. (BosNewsLife MISSION WATCH is a regular look at mission developments and missionaries working in difficult circumstances in the two-thirds world and other hard-to-reach places).
