Description

We all answer “the call of nature” and this gift will ensure more people can do so with dignity. In addition to providing a toilet, communities will receive hygiene education to improve their health.

How your gift helps

Seven year old Shin Lun’s entire village is feeling much happier about life now it has clean latrines (toilets) and an understanding of good hygiene. It means disease is vanishing, however other villages in Myanmar’s northern hills are yet to experience this dramatic improvement in community health. This is where your gift comes in.

Your support for TEAR’s partner World Concern Myanmar literally results in life-changing community development. Shin Lun’s father, Nang Hee, knows how costly disease and illness can be, having lost his little sister years ago. Her portrait hangs above the family’s doorway and many other families in his village of Htaram Dam also know the sadness of losing a loved one to illnesses like severe diarrhoea or malaria.

For many years people in the village, especially children, were often sick with a fever, chills and diarrhoea. “We didn’t know why people were sick,” Nang Hee explains. “Some people thought it was probably malaria and a few people died every year.” Unknown to them, these symptoms are also typical of diarrhoeal illnesses caused by unsafe drinking water, dirty hands, contaminated food and unsanitary conditions around the village.

Two years ago World Concern started working with the village’s community development group and fresh hope took hold. Educational awareness sessions and the training of village health volunteers have enabled the community to take the right steps to prevent sickness. Although Shin Lun has tested positive twice for malaria, Nang Hee has been able to get his son treated. “When my son and children sick, I know to look for help immediately (from the health volunteers) and we don’t have to worry about getting to the hospital,” says Nang Hee.

Today, due to the diligent work of the people of Htaram Dam, every family has access to their own toilet with separate hand-washing stations. They also use insecticide-treated bed nets to protect against mosquitoes and give out prizes to the households that are doing the best to prevent malaria! Nang Hee’s hope is that these health initiatives will catch on in other villages. Your support for TEAR means World Concern can make his hope come true.

What you receive

• Choose from a Printed Card, Download & Print (PDF), E-card, or No Card.
• Links to Download & Print (PDF) and E-cards are emailed to you after checkout.
• The amount you have donated will not be on the card.
• Printed cards:
  • A blank envelope for your card.
  • Free standard postage within Australia (5-7 working days) or $7 for Express Post. Express Post cards will normally be sent the same day if the order is made before 12pm AEST. Please note: Express Post only operates in these areas within Australia.
  • Note: We cannot ship printed cards outside Australia (but you can still order the digital cards).
  • Note: We do NOT write on your cards — they are delivered to you to personalise.
• A tax-deductible receipt.