2010 Update

Activities in 2010

2010 being the 6th year of our work, Metta Spectrum (MS) in a few years’ time will be a decade old. We all share a big desire to make a difference. We would like to sincerely express our thanks to all our donors for their generous donations. This year we were able to donate 3,400,000 kyats in total at five places. Our Metta Spectrum (MS) volunteer group in Myanmar and outside of Myanmar have worked hard to remain true to our mission reaching out and assisting those who are in need and also responding to unforseen challenges.

Donation at Haing Gyi Kyun

The project promised for the Nargis Cyclone victims last year was delivered this year. That was the construction of a large drinking water pond, ye-gan-gyi, at Phaya Hla village, Haing Gyi Kyun. For the rehabilitation of Nargis Cyclone victims, a fund raising activity was organised by Myanmar community and friends at Sarnia, Canada and the amount thus collected was donated to MS for the rehabilitation work. Our heartfelt thanks to the organisers, MS Canada representatives and friends in Sarnia. The drinking water pond was the result of a joint effort of all our donors, and Myanmar community and friends from Sarnia, Canada. We would like to put on record here your deep cetana and commitment for the welfare of our people. And we would also like to gratefully acknowledge that the construction of the big pond was successfully completed within a reasonably short time and without any waste of funds because of the guidance and close supervision of Jetavun Sayadaw U Ahlawka.

The big pond, ye- gan- gyi , which has been named Metta Ye Gan Thar and of which the total cost was 2,800,000 kyats is 100 feet on each side and it will serve as a sustainable clean drinking water source not only for Phayar Hla village but also for nearby villages. On a daily basis, this pond will provide hundreds of villagers with clean water. Having access to clean water in adequate supply would significantly improve the quality of life of the residents in this area.

Donation at Yadana Theingi Nunnery Orphanage for the construction of the main door of the new building. This was our second time donation there.

Donation at Mayanchaung Welfare Centre, Hlegu Township, for one day meal on full moon day of Waso for people who have special skin disease. Since social stigma prevents these unfortunate people from leading a normal life, many are living at this Welfare Centre.

Donation for providing water for people as last year, in some parts of Myanmar during the Dry Season, scarcity of water became a problem.

More than six hundred children have been cared for and given education at this monastery. They include Palaung, Shan, Myanmar, Danu, Pa Oh, Shan-Chinese, Naga and Kachin who are at different levels of study, from primary to university. Some are Nargis Cyclone victims from Irrawaddy Division.

Arrangement for reading at this center is well thought out and well organised. The students are required to spend one hour reading period in the library every school day under the supervision of the teachers. They are to follow this reading program up till they reach the 7th grade. By introducing this system, reading habit will be ingrained in their young minds which would render great benefit to them. “Reading maketh a full man - - -”, Francis Bacon said. A lot of good reading materials are needed for this place where there are many young readers who will make good use of them. So, we have planned to add more books there. Photos of Doepin children, their library, and a list of MS donated books are shown below.

For 2011, we asked ourselves, “Is there any way to approach the activities for a most desirable outcome ?” While working on 2011, with this in mind, we decided to reinforce our previous efforts of developing the youth’s balangadan at the places we have been and so, for some of these places, our 2011donation visit will be our 3rd or 4th time. We believe that more effective developments can take place out of these frequent visits. The more frequent the visits are, the better it would be. Children at those places are growing and many of them are now in their teens. Our hope is that our presence there meeting with them will help us see what their current needs are and what we should do next. We have also selected some new places. Our aim is to be able to reinforce our help at the old places and at the same time extend our support to new places. We would like to request you for your kind support. We believe with your continued support this could be realised.

Thanking you all