77 people (and organizations) rose to the challenge, and in total (net of fees), we raised $13,547.81!

We received donations from Canadians, Germans, Austrians, Australians, Americans, British, Dutch, Japanese, and Thai people.
We received donations from Rotary Clubs in Canada, as well as here in Thailand.

We received media attention from Canada, the UK, Sydney, and Germany.

And most importantly, we received the support of those who know us, and even those who don’t.
Our donors will be kept apprised of the news as the donation process continues along. We are busy at work behind the scenes completing this mammoth project.

Thank you again. Without you, we would not have been able to make such a difference to the victims of Cyclone Nargis, which has ravaged a nation, and whose victims are still suffering.

Related posts:

1. CBC National Coverage
2. Nora & Kelly’s World Recipes: Chipotle BBQ Sauce
3. THANK YOU!

(email subscribers: visit the blog directly to view the YouTube clip)

We have now raised almost $12,500 towards cyclone relief in Burma! We couldn’t do it without our generous donors. If you have not already donated, please do so by either using the Paypal link or Canada Helps links on the front page of our blog.
All donations over $20 will receive a charitable tax receipt, and the aid will be expedited and sent to Burma as quickly as possible.

We are only going to be accepting donations for the next couple of days (Wednesday at the latest), so if you were procrastinating, now is the time!

Related posts:

1. Just on the BBC!
2. Thank You World!
3. Ssssssssspringbrook National Park

After networking like mad in a country where we don’t speak the language and are tiptoeing around making any cultural faux pas with powerful business people, we have done amazingly well.

Here is the latest:

We have confirmed that the Red Cross here in Chiang Mai will not accept donations in-kind as we had hoped and originally heard. And if we make a cash donation to them, they are unwilling to work with us to track how the donation is spent.

We had really hoped to stimulate the Chiang Mai economy by purchasing the goods here, but unfortunately it doesn’t appear to be logistically possible.

We understand; for aid agencies to accept donations in kind is unrealistic. People at large can’t anticipate the needs of victims in the event of a crisis. If they are not physically close to the crisis, the cost of transporting the goods can cost an aid agency way more in the end than if they could source the goods themselves.

So the Red Cross suggested that if we want to make a donation in kind, that we should work through the Thai military.

….and minutes later, we confirmed that the Thai military will deliver the goods directly into the hands of the Burmese military. This is not only unacceptable to us personally, but would land us in jail for violating the Canadian Sanction laws.

So it is sad. Through the above avenues, and a flurry of emails and contacts with various other aid agencies, it has become apparent that we cannot possibly purchase goods ourselves with the generous donations we have received and transport them to Burma.

In almost any other country in the world, this strategy would have been possible, at least to some extent. However we have found ourselves navigating one of the toughest situations we could ever find ourselves in: trying to give aid to a country with closed borders, a totalitarian government, and a military that keeps an ever watchful eye on absolutely everything.

Burma/Myanmar:

Just in case you aren’t totally aware of what life is like (on a good day) in Burma, read the George Orwell book “1984″. Orwell actually spent many years in Burma, and I recently read another book written by a woman who proposed that “1984″ was actually about his Burma experiences. She traveled there and retraced Orwell’s footsteps. Through her own experiences and the stories of people who knew Orwell, the author painted a picture in today’s Burma very similar to what Orwell describes in “1984″.

Our Plans:

But I digress. Here is the final scoop of what we are pursuing.
We have been working diligently with the folks at ShelterBox both in Canada and the UK. We confirmed that the last shipment of 1,000 boxes reached Myanmar and are being distributed. They have reports, pictures, and video to illustrate this. We are hoping to get some more of these pictures to share with you.

You can also see the latest updates on their main web page here.

You, the reader and donor, may ask why not just make the donation directly to ShelterBox. If you wish to do so, you may certainly go right ahead. It is an amazing program in which each box provides everything a family of 10 needs to survive for up to six months.
And since survival is all the Burmese people are looking at right now, and because ShelterBox is getting aid and Response Team members in without being stopped by the military, we believe this is a great cause to get behind.

But here are a few reasons why you may wish to donate to us instead and allow us to redirect the money:

• They will waive their usual 10% administration fee. All ShelterBox employees are volunteers, but as with any organization, there is a cost to keep it up and running. Because of the nature of the work we have done, they will absorb this cost and ensure that 100% of the money sent goes directly to the cause.
• We have also confirmed that the donation we make to ShelterBox Canada will be flagged specifically for Burma, expedited, and added to the next shipment. They will be accountable to us, and we will in turn communicate everything to our donors.
• To that end, there is no guarantee if you make a direct donation to ShelterBox that it will be allocated to Burma, since ShelterBox is also working in a number of other countries, including China.
• We also heard through the grapevine that CIDA (a Canadian governmental organization) will be matching donations to Canadian humanitarian organizations for Burma relief. We are looking at the possibilities, but we hope to double our donation using this grant!

In order to be completely above board, we must add:
We have as close to a guarantee as possible from the head of ShelterBox in the UK that our money will go directly to aid in Burma. But with the tenuous political situation in Burma, we all know that anything could change at the drop of a hat if they refuse to continue the relationship as it currently stands.
Having said that we have the highest confidence that ShelterBox will indeed get another shipment in, and that our boxes will be on that airplane. But as with so many things in life, nothing is for sure.

In the News….again!

CBC seems to love us (and we love them for it)!

Watch CBC Newsworld at 7:30am on Saturday morning for another live phone interview with the latest updates.

And Kas Roussy and her cameraman have spent the last two days with us and are heading back to Bangkok shortly to send our story in to The National. We expect it will air on Sunday night at 9pm EST on Newsworld, and then 10pm EST on the National. Please tune in!

Related posts:

1. Thursday Update: Not Much Longer Now!
2. Thank You World!
3. Cyclone Relief Update: Working with Thailand

All we can do is remember that our hell is nothing in comparison to the hell that the Burmese victims continue to endure. For them, we persevere.

We two Canadians seem to have become an international NGO, and are doing the work of a full-fledged organization.

Our visa to stay in Thailand ends before the month is out; less than two weeks away. We are pushing to be able to see this project through to completion before we have to leave (and we have no chance to extend our visa as we must be in Australia for a contract).

The end of every business day in Thailand marks the end of a day’s progress, for better or worse. And the closer we inch to the weekend, the closer we will be to two days of relative inactivity. A blessing for our tired bodies, but a curse for this project.

Today, we attended the Rotary Club of Chiang Mai Thin Thai Ngam (an all woman’s club!) and met some unbelievably powerful people:

• The visiting president of the Rotary Club of Kawasaki in Japan. This man owns Mt. Fuji. Owns it. He gave us money.
• A retired Thai general who is now the head of a number of humanitarian organizations, a member of the House of Representatives, and who has the ear of the monarchy of Thailand. He gave us money too.
• We met Governor Elects, Rotary District Governors, Rotary Presidents, and extremely powerful business people.
• We received donations from the Rotary Chiang Mai Airport club, Chiang Mai North club, and Chiang Mai Thin Thai Ngam club. In total, donations from generous Thai people and fellow travelers is now almost half of what has been donated by our Canadian friends. And all in two days. Let’s step it up, Canada!

We also by chance met Beth, a wonderful woman from the UK who travels and does humanitarian work. She has joined us in the trenches, making phone calls and helping us sift through the tangled web of red tape we seem to be wrapped in.

And CBC seems to love us; there is a camera crew on their way from Bangkok to do another story for the national news! We hope that this story will raise even more awareness and corral Canadians to continue to donate to the cause we are working so hard for. We are making a real difference in the world…let’s do it together!

Logistical Update:

It appears that our initial hopes of utilizing the services of the Royal Thai Air Force or Thai military may not be possible, as the channels they wish to use to distribute the aid will land the goods directly in the hands of the Burmese military, which is against Canadian Sanction laws from what we can discern. Unless the above forces can somehow be sanctioned to deliver the aid directly to an aid organization in Burma like the Burmese Red Cross (who are on the ground and very active from our reports), then this option may well be dead in the water.

So we are searching for other options, again networking in a country where the language and culture are just beyond our grasp. Everything takes twice as long as it should as a result.

…tick tock tick tock…and people in Burma continue to suffer…

But progress continues to be made at an alarming pace. Here are the options we are actively working on:

1) We would like to work with the Thai and Burmese Red Cross, who our reports indicate are effectively getting aid distributed in Burma. We would still like to purchase the goods ourselves to give to the Red Cross, and watch it get loaded up (heck – even to help load it onto the truck or plane ourselves!) for delivery.

And we just received news through the grapevine that the Chiang Mai Red Cross has been collecting donations (in kind we think) for Burma. If this is indeed true (and so much can be lost in translation!), then there may be well-established channels for us to work with in Chiang Mai and an ability to expedite the permit application in Canada.

But of course, there are many many (many!) things that must be worked out in order to maintain this level of involvement with the delivery of such aid, especially when dealing directly with aid organizations. Not the least of which are continued red tape and logistical issues coming from Canada. Sheesh.

2) We are continuing to foster contacts with other aid organizations who are on the ground in Burma. Confirming their involvement is tricky, and in turn confirming how we can maintain control (or at least a watchful eye) over how the money or directly-purchased aid is delivered is again, quite the undertaking.

One such option is the Shelterbox program, which continues to appear to shine in the event of the Burmese disaster. We have confirmed through Tom Henderson in the UK that 600 boxes landed in Burma shortly after the cyclone hit, and have been in the hands of cyclone victims as seen on state tv. As I write this, 1000 more boxes are in the air from the UK; Tom personally helped to load them on the plane.

Shelterbox has 4 people in Burma, who each trained 40 teams of 40 people – all non-military, strong locals, and each person will train 100 more people. So it seems that 4 people on the ground in Burma are turning into an army dedicated to Service Above Self.

Although there are no guarantees these days, it appears that the Shelterboxes will continue to be received in Burma. The first load got through, and the Burmese military have done nothing to stop the efforts of the trained Shelterbox volunteers who are waiting at the airport for this delivery.

Tom at Shelterbox even went so far as to say that they have dealt with tougher situations in North Korea and Somalia; that Burma by comparison is not as difficult as those projects were.

3) With all of these options and more, we are working on applying to Canada for the appropriate permits to use any direct channels we establish to purchase and deliver the aid ourselves. Although it is technically possible, with our tight timelines and our own personal workforce of two (plus Beth, the generosity of the Thai contacts we have established, and fellow Rotarians in Canada), this is less than easy.

Personal Update:

We are hanging on by our fingernails. Last night we went to bed “early” (midnight) to catch up on some much needed sleep. We woke up this morning feeling more pained than rested.

By about 3pm every afternoon, we tend to lose perspective, we lose our cool, and we lose the ability to keep our eyes open. If we’re lucky, we get a chance to sleep for an hour before mobilizing for the start of the day back home in Canada and a new flurry of contacts and emails.

Day to day and hour to hour, staying motivated is a challenge. Our savior is that this cannot possibly last beyond the end of the month, and in fact with the good news from Shelterbox and Red Cross, we feel this may be over sooner than anticipated, with commendable results and a chance to say that we, our fellow Canadians, our fellow travelers, and our friends in Chiang Mai, really did something good.

And how our lives and perspectives will be oh so different after this is over.

We know we will see this project through to finality (whatever that means), and we will honour the fiduciary responsibility and promises we made to our donors. That is not a matter in question at all. In fact, we feel we are very close to a real solution, and have raised incredible awareness and opened the hearts and wallets of people who may otherwise not have done anything.

Currently, we have raised over $11,000 Canadian Dollars (some of this is converted from Thai Baht).

Two Canadians with the naïve idea to fill a truck with water and deliver it to the border are learning how to be an NGO on the fly. What an experience!

When we were at the Rotary meeting this afternoon, we found the only English words in the program:

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet

Enough trials to make you strong

Enough sorrow to keep you human

And help others.

It is by these words that we continue on for another day.

Related posts:

1. Just on the BBC!
2. Cyclone Relief Update: Working with Thailand
3. Friday Update: It’s Finally Happening!

Failing that, we are looking at either flying the supplies out of Bangkok, or using Royal Thai Air Force-supplied trucks to deliver the supplies from Chiang Mai. We would prefer to continue to base our operations here out of Chiang Mai, because we believe that we are in a unique position to stimulate the Chiang Mai economy, gather the support of the big business owners here, and heck – we are closer to the devastation in Burma here…it just makes more sense.

We have a meeting scheduled for 12noon tomorrow (Wednesday) with the Chiang Mai Rotary Club to discuss everything further.

Should things completely fall apart with the Royal Thai Air Force (which we doubt will happen), we are working on a few Plan Bs:

1) The Chiang Mai Rotary Club has made a commitment to do whatever they possibly can for us. They make up some of the most powerful and famous people in this region of Thailand, so we believe they know how to get stuff done. One of the members owns the largest trucking company in the area, if not the country; they will give us trucks. Others have leads on where to buy supplies. We have the utmost faith that they will come through in amazing ways for us.

2) We have made contact with the Red Cross in Thailand, which is run by Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. She has already expressed her support for Burma by donating 20 tons of food, supplies, generators, and water purifiers. So we expect that with her connections and power, she (and the Thailand Red Cross) can help. The Red Cross is one of the few organizations in Burma that are making direct distributions.

3) We are cultivating relationships with a few small organizations within Burma that are doing effective work. It is a long, slow process (as you can imagine, they have bigger fish to fry than to sit in an office and respond to our emails and phone calls!), but we are using our tenacious passion to keep the irons in the fire.

4) We continue to rely on the success of the Shelterbox program in getting much-needed supplies into Burma. It is an amazing program, and if we are unable to personally direct the funds, we will contribute to this initiative.

In other news…we ARE the news! Last night we conducted an interview with the Toronto Star. Shy of posing the question “why are you so obsessed with this” (obsessed? Sheesh – that’s harsh), the interview generally went well.

We hope they got from it that we are doing all this work because we have never been so close to such a tragic event, and saw an opportunity to make a tangible difference. The snowball got big and is rolling down the hill at quite a clip; how can we not keep trying?

And Canadians: Watch CBC at 6pm tonight for a story on our project! We did an interview on the phone, and they will be getting an on-camera interview today from friends in Toronto who are actively supporting us in a number of ways.

Oh yeah – and will somebody please tape it for us? We’d love to see it sometime…it’s a bit of a commute for us at the moment…

And Vagabondish has also taken notice of our efforts….you can read our story here.

Personally and emotionally, exhaustion has taken a firm hold. This is extremely draining; like nothing we’ve experienced before. It would be nice to forget all this ever happened and go back to being on vacation. I walked by somebody earlier who was reading a book in a hammock….how I wish I could do that!

Putting words into coherent sentences is getting increasingly difficult. News of China’s earthquake is tragic. Destruction seems to be on all sides of us. And sadly and selfishly, we are afraid that the media spotlight will be taken off Burma because of this, and even more people will suffer. It’s just not fair to the millions of people in Burma who need the world’s support, and have had so many strikes against them in the last week and a half.

As if in sympathy for our fatigue, the skies opened up and cried down on us today. And so begins the rainy season here in Thailand. We have to get used to getting very wet. At least it seems to be a sort of emotional release, as we see the waterworks turn on.

We are just two Canadians, like anybody else. We just happened to be close to the tragedy when it struck. Our project to do a little good got big, and we’re hanging on for our lives, managing each opportunity and crisis as it comes. We have the skills and connections to make this happen, without a doubt.

Support ebbs and flows from those we know, which is probably one of the hardest things to wrap our heads around. Some of the least expected people have come out with the greatest support (both emotional and financial), and some of the places and people we expected (even relied) on it coming from have been non-existent.

Despite our highest confidence in being able to do this job, we are still just two Canadians. We are scared, we feel very alone at times, and really – we just want to go back to life as it was.

But that is not in the cards for us. Please keep good thoughts for us, and if you haven’t already done so, please support our cause.

Related posts:

1. Cyclone Relief Update: Working with Thailand
2. Just on the BBC!
3. Monday Update

We are very tired.

Being all too aware that getting sleep and taking care of ourselves is very important, we are trying to make sure we are well rested and healthy. But with the time difference, knowing that family and friends at home are just waking up when we go to sleep and going to bed when we are awake makes things even trickier. Sleep is restless as we try to calm our minds and let things play out the way they need to. We try to rest during the afternoons, since we are most active in the mornings and evenings, corresponding with those at home.

All day we sat on pins and needles awaiting news of a meeting with the Royal Thai Air Force and Chiang Mai Rotary club. If waiting through the weekend was tough, every minute of today was tougher. Finally at the end of the day, TJ (our Thai translator, internet provider, and godsend) was able to reach the head of the Chiang Mai Rotary club for an update: we will get a call tomorrow morning.

We have to trust that everybody here is working as quickly as they can, and cannot help but feel continued compassion and pain for the daily suffering of those in Burma. It is now estimated that for lack of proper aid and supplies coming in, up to 1.5million people are at immediate risk of dying. This gets uglier by the minute.

CNN finally got access to Burma, and although I can’t stand CNN in general, this incredibly disturbing video speaks for itself (be warned: it’s graphic).

This project has gotten very big; bigger than either of us: Two Canadians who just wanted to do something good, being so close (too close) to the devastation which increasing news access reports is much worse than originally estimated.

The people who have already come out of the woodworks to help us and make donations is truly touching. We have already raised close to $1,000, and we hope that as people begin their day on Monday morning they will rally much more.

The Thai Monarchy donated a C-130 airplane (the same kind we hope to attain) full of supplies to Burma on Saturday. The value of the goods was 1.08 million Thai Baht….about $32,000US. So we have set our fund raising goal at $30,000. We are already 1/30th of the way there….something to celebrate!

The Toronto Star has also expressed interest in our story, and we hope to converse with them shortly. Again (and unfortunately), the time difference makes it very difficult.

Our friend TJ, the owner of the internet cafe we have now donned “mission control”. He has given us unmitigated access to the internet, drives us anywhere we want to go, and serves as translator for communication with members of the Chiang Mai Rotary and Royal Thai Air Force. Without him this project would be considerably more difficult and expensive.
// –>

Related posts:

1. Cyclone Relief Update: Working with Thailand
2. Just on the BBC!
3. Tuesday Update – We’re Big News!

At 8am London time, we did a radio interview for the BBC’s live show Five Live on the work we are doing here in Thailand. Despite challenges with the Burmese military seizing goods, we stressed that it is not a reason to simply throw your hands up and do nothing. We have to trust that even the Burmese military has the compassion and human decency to do what is right for their fellow countrymen who are suffering.

As two Canadians trying to make a difference by wanting to drive a truck full of supplies to the border, our project has blossomed into something so much bigger. We are gaining international publicity, both through the media, and through the networking we are doing with fellow travelers who are taking our message to their families and friends in their countries.

We are also now accepting donations, as evidenced on the front page of this blog. Every single bit counts, so please don’t hesitate to contribute – even if it is a few dollars. Just $5 will buy 20 bottles of water for those who are thirsty. Every little bit counts.

Tomorrow, we meet with the Royal Thai Air Force and Chiang Mai Rotary club. We expect to report big stuff very shortly!

Related posts:

1. Cyclone Relief Update: Working with Thailand
2. Monday Update
3. Thursday Update: Not Much Longer Now!

We have now established contact with the Chiang Mai Rotary Club, who in turn has contact with the Thai Air Force. We have gone from renting a truck ourselves and delivering supplies, to potentially having a C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft at our disposal!

The beauty of this initiative is that although Burma (Myanmar) is still refusing international aid and access, they are accepting help from neighbouring ally Thailand. As such, it appears that if we are able to raise money from friends, family, Canadians, and even international connections (and we already have people in Germany and the UK who want to help), that these dollars will purchase aid that will actually reach those in need, while other contributions are being held up at the border.

This is an uphill battle, riddled with logistical obstacles. First, we await a meeting with the Chiang Mai Rotary and Thai Air Force. Once we know what we are working with, we will begin to raise money and accept donations.
Accepting donations is another can of worms we are trying to sort through. We want to be transparent in our efforts, but from our initial research establishing a non-profit organization or charity and associated bank account is no easy task, especially from afar.

We simply have to trust that solutions will come, and everything will fall into place as necessary.

Again, any suggestions or support you can give us will be greatly appreciated.

Related posts:

1. Disaster Relief for Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar
2. Just on the BBC!
3. Monday Update

I am taking a break from the stories I usually share of our travels to give you an update as to our activities. (Later posts updating our adventures in Bangkok and beyond will follow).

We are currently in Chang Mai, which is located in Northern Thailand. Last week, a cyclone of epic proportions blew through neighbouring Myanmar, losing steam shortly before reaching us. We are safe and sound, but there are millions of people a few hundred short kilometres away from us who are not.

Although this disaster may not be getting the same degree of publicity that other natural disasters get, please believe me when I say it is epic. It rivals some of the largest storms in human history, and the death toll is climbing ever upwards each hour of each day as the millions of people who have been displaced are literally starving to death in search of water and food, while swimming through flood waters littered with the dead bodies of tens of thousands of other unidentified people.

Being so close to this tragedy, we cannot continue on our trip as planned, blissfully ignorant of the suffering happening all too close to us.

As such, we have hijacked our trip agenda as it stands to see how we can make a difference. The Canadian Consulate is advocating for us to get visas into Myanmar to help, however given the political situation and our ultimate deadlines of needing to be in Australia in a month, we are not hopeful that this can happen.

What we can do, however, is to get supplies to the border. We have already established contacts here in Thailand to enable us to get a large truck and drive it to the border (and possibly beyond), full of necessary supplies. We have numerous people in Canada poised to give us money to contribute to our cause at a truly grassroots level.

We are experiencing the joy of networking….in a country where we barely speak the language and are struggling to adapt to and embrace the customs. We are learning to trust people again (as we always have), and know that compassion for others in pain prevails over all.

Fellow travelers are catching on to our project and providing assistance however they can. Offers for donations of money have been pouring in, but we are not accepting anything from anybody until we know beyond a shadow of a doubt exactly how we can help.

Ultimately we are looking for contacts in Myanmar who can meet us at the border and accept our supplies. We need to know what is required, and how to proceed. We are doing everything we can here to make this happen, and progress is slow but effective.

Please pray for us. If you can help with contacts, don’t hesitate to leave a comment for me here. Ultimately once we have a course of action we will be asking for money, but one step at at time.

Related posts:

1. Cyclone Relief Update: Working with Thailand
2. Monday Update
3. Tuesday Update – We’re Big News!