Break the Burmese Blackout

***The 17 ONLINE PETITIONS FOR BURMA HERE.***
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Donate to help Burmese opposition groups bypass the junta's media blackout. From AVAAZ.org:

The Burmese military has seen the power of global solidarity for the demonstrators--and has moved to shut down all communications with the outside world. As the images and stories have slowed, global media coverage of the Burmese crisis has lost its urgency.

But people power can beat the blackout.

Donate below to send crucial technical support and equipment to Burmese civil society groups, and help return Burma's voice to its people. 100% of funds donated will go to Burmese groups

Avaaz will keep no portion.

***DONATE***HERE to HELP BREAK THE BURMESE BLACKOUT.

Donate to the Mae Tao Clinic, help give medical aid to Refugees, Migrant Workers, and Others who cross from Burma to Thailand

The Mae Tao Clinic (MTC), founded and directed by Dr. Cynthia Maung, a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, provides free health care for refugees, migrant workers, and other individuals who cross the border from Burma to Thailand. People of all ethnicities and religions are welcome at the Clinic. Its origins go back to the student pro-democracy movement in Burma in 1988 and the brutal repression by the Burmese regime of that movement. The fleeing students who needed medical attention were attended in a small house in Mae Sot.

You can help the clinic continue its work by either DONATINGor VOLUNTEERING.

from the Mao Tao Clinic's donation page:

Welcome to the Mae Tao Clinic’s donation page. We have set up several partnerships with international organizations through which you can make tax-deductible donations to the Mae Tao Clinic.

The Mae Tao clinic spends many thousands of dollars on training health workers and buying essential medicines each year. Following are some examples of what your donation can help to buy.

* US$4 - Cost of teaching materials for one child for one year
* US$5.75 - Anti Malarials
* US$15 - Cost of measuring and producing one prosthetic leg for a landmine victim
* US$100 - Cost of training one new health worker to work at the clinic or in
conflict areas of Burma
* US$150 - Cost of supporting one teacher in a school for internally displaced
children for one year
* US$200 - Vitamin A and Deworming Programme: School Health Team to provide Vit A and
Deworming to 6000 Burmese students along the border twice a year
* US$300 - Cost of supporting a child to stay at a boarding house to access education
for one year
* US$430 - Essential Medicines: Cost of medicine per day at Mae Tao Clinic – serving
at least 200 patients per day
* US$625 - Family Planning Services: Cost of providing family planning supplies for
one month at Mae Tao Clinic

We have also put together a more detailed PDF spreadsheet outlining some of these medicines and their annual consumption totals, as well as associated costs the Clinic has to cover. Please click HERE to download and view it.

Please select one of the options below.
Donations from United States in US$
Donations from Canada in Canadian $
Donations in all other currencies

Help Keep 5 Alive

***The 14 ONLINE PETITIONS FOR BURMA HERE.***
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Please consider donating to Partners Relief and Development's 5 Alive Program.

$50 will help keep a family of five internally displaced persons alive for one month.

Donate HERE. You can download Partners' 5 Alive Brochure HERE.
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You have ended up on a desolate island with only 5 belongings. You found them in the waterproof backpack that somehow made it to the sandy shore. What do you hope you find inside the pack? A journal? A pen? Mirror? Bug repellant? The truth is that you will not survive long in the elements on an unknown island. Unless of course you happen upon a shopping centre.

The ethnic minorities of Burma are going through a similar exercise... except for them it's not a game.

One of the Burma Army's strategies is to crush all resistance from the ethnic groups by destroying their villages, their homes and their livelihood. They go from village to village, systematically destroying everything. If people are found in their way, they will be destroyed as well.

When people are hiding from their own government and are unwilling or unable to leave their country, they are classified as Internally Displaced Persons. Innnocent people have to run for their lives. Mothers, fathers, grandparents and children all have to leave their homes with only the few belongings they can carry. The belongings they bring have to be able to sustain them for the next few months.

We have asked what the 5 most important items are. The list is simple. This is what a family of 5 needs to survive for a month:

1. 75 kilograms of rice; 5 kilograms of salt
2. 1 cooking pot
3. 1 lighter
4. 1 machete
5. 1 large plastic sheet for making a roof in the jungle

The items on the list above can help save a family of 5. It costs $50 to do so. Partners wants to keep as many groups of 5 Alive as possible. You can donate $50 now to keep 5 Alive.

The life or death difference you can make

The generous support of our 5 Alive campaign has made the difference between life or death for literally thousands of people. Partners currently support 20 teams who bravely enter combat areas to demonstrate God's love among people whose lives have been brutalized by Burma's terrible war. Please keep praying, keep supporting our 5 Alive program, and keep speaking on behalf of those victims of war who have no voice.

This child and her community were helped by relief teams in April 27, 2006. Partners was able to send in medicine, shelter materials, and clothes for thousands of people who were chased from their homes and communities by Burma Army troops.

The current situation

There are currently more than 25,000 people displaced in North Eastern Burma alone, we have confirmed the deaths of 76 innocent people, and there are 33 new camp-hide sites now established to care for those who can't carry on alone.

This year, the Burma Army has stepped up its attacks against the ethnic minorities, bringing their usual dishonour and destruction with them. The situation inside of Burma is worse now that it has been in ten years, yet the world remains quiet, mostly blind to the atrocities and oppression against a gentle and peace-loving people. They shoot without remorse, rape without regret, enslave without apology. Everyday, more hearts are damaged, more innocence is stolen, and more hope is shattered. Yet still, in the midst of hardship and trial, these amazing people continue to love and grow, pray and hope, laugh and live. Their capacity for love is astounding, and they mostly refuse to be bitter.

Just Ask yourself this question: "What if it were my family?"

Naw Paw Htoo, aged 60, comes from Tongoo District in North Eastern Burma. When I interviewed her last week in Ei Tu Hta Camp, she was composed and friendly. Nine months ago the Burma Army attacked and occupied her village, and looted property. They burned down the houses, shot 7 of her neighbors, and forced the others in her community to hide in the jungle. Naw Paw Htoo fled with two of her five children, the other three are still inside Burma. She and her children walked over a month to reach the border, finally ending up in Ei Tu Hta camp where she is today.

Three years ago, Naw Paw Htoo's husband was killed when he went to the nearby town to buy food. The Burma Army tied his hands behind his back, dragged him through the jungle, hung him in a tree upside down, gouged out his eyes and then drowned him. Naw Paw Htoo helped with the burial and funeral.

Because of generous donations from people like you, Partners helped establish this temporary camp where Naw Paw Htoo now lives. Patners organizes school for the children, and helps arrange for medical facilities and care. Thank you for caring so much that you give towards these crucial needs. If you would like materials to help inform your friends and community about what is going on in Burma please contact us.

Donate HERE.

TAKE ACTION! The Petitions for Burma

For those who care about human rights, please sign the NINETEEN(19) PETITIONS below if you have not done so already. Please take the 5 minutes to do this. It's easy and CAN and WILL bring concrete results to the suffering people of Burma.

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19 ONLINE PETITIONS/PLEDGES

1. AVAAZ is petitioning the UN and Chinese President Hu Jintao HERE.

2. AVAAZ also is launching a global boycott of Total Oil and Chevron and all their subsidiaries that operate in Burma HERE. By hitting them straight in their bottom line, AVAAZ hopes to press these corporations to either push Burma to democratic reform, or to leave the country entirely.

3. Also, please sign the US Campaign for Burma petition calling for China to withdraw support of Burma's military regime HERE.

4. Human Rights First is calling on ASEAN members to put pressure on Burma to stop the bloodshed now. Please sign before the ASEAN meeting on November 17th HERE.

5. The US Campaign for Burma is also calling on the UN Secretary General to help stop the torture, killings, and arrests HERE.

6. Call on Members of United Nations, Members of the European Union, All Political Leaders, All Head of States, and, All Dignitaries for immediate action on Burma HERE.

7. An appeal to the 15 members of the UN Security Council HERE.

8-9. Ask that Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon support the passage of a binding resolution requiring the restoration of democracy to Burma HERE. The Global Campaign for Justice in Burma's petition is asking that the Secretary-General investigate and collect proof of human rights abuses in Burma HERE. You can also email UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon asking for immediate UN intervention at inquiries@un.org.

10. Send a petition calling for the immediate release of all political prisoners in Burma, including Aung San Suu Kyi, to Senior General Than Shwe. Don't worry if one or two of these emails bounces back-the petition will go to 30 Burmese government ministries and Burmese embassies around the world- it probably means their inbox is already full of appeals. The petition, off musician Damien Rice's actionburma.com site is HERE.

11. Reporters Without Borders has a petition calling for the immediate release of Win Tin, one of Aung San Suu Kyi's mentors. You can sign the petition HERE.

12. Sign Earthrights International's petition urging Chevron to use its influence to help stop the crackdown, and to stop investing in Burma HERE.

13. Sign the Shwe Gas Movement's petition to halt South Korea's Daewoo from extracting gas in Western Burma until human rights are upheld HERE.

14. Amnesty International Canada's petition HERE is calling on Canadian Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier and the Canadian government to put pressure on the UN and ASEAN to help bring peace to Burma.

15. Burma Rivers Network's PETITION calls on the Chinese government to closely monitor Chinese companies that invest in hydropower and other extractive industries in Burma (and other countries). Nontransparent operation, poor oversight, and not keeping affect communities informed has led to environmental degradation and human rights abuses in Burma.

16. A petition calling on Canadian PM Steven Harper to act HERE.

17-19. For British citizens, please send the following 3 petitions "Support Burmese", "Democracy Burma," and "Boycott Olympics" to PM Gordon Brown. Get him to act now!

- If you know of any other petitions or pledges, email me at freeburmaactioncenter@gmail.com, and I'll add it ASAP.

- DONATE: The Mae Tao Clinic (MTC), founded and directed by Dr. Cynthia Maung, a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, provides free health care for refugees, migrant workers, and other individuals who cross the border from Burma to Thailand. Its origins go back to the student pro-democracy movement in Burma in 1988 and the brutal repression by the Burmese regime of that movement.

You can help the clinic continue its work by either DONATINGor VOLUNTEERING.

- DONATE to Partners Relief and Development's 5 Alive Program. $50 can help keep a family of 5 IDPs alive for one month. Read more HERE.

- Help AVAAZ.org Break the Burmese Blackout HERE. The Burmese military has seen the power of global solidarity for the demonstrators--and has moved to shut down all communications with the outside world. As the images and stories have slowed, global media coverage of the Burmese crisis has lost its urgency.

But people power can beat the blackout. Donate below to send crucial technical support and equipment to Burmese civil society groups, and help return Burma's voice to its people. 100% of funds donated will go to Burmese groups--Avaaz will keep no portion.

- Join the Support the Monks' protest in Burma and the US Campaign for Burma Facebook groups. Check out Burma Watch's website http://www.burma-watch.org.

- You can also call and email the Chinese, Burmese, Indian, Thai, Japanese, Russian, South Korean, Malaysian, US, British,and French embassies. Demand that world leaders put sanctions on Burma until the junta upholds human rights. Call on MNCs to pull out of Burma.

- The Dirty List of companies doing business with Burma's junta, compiled by The Burma Campaign UK.

- The Clean List of companies that have either pulled out of Burma, or made a principled decision not to do business in Burma. It is not comprehensive, but does give a scope of how public outcry has led to corporate social responsibility. The list details the companies' reasons for pulling out or refraining from investing in Burma. Also compiled by the Burma Campaign UK.