Samaritan’s Purse is providing purified drinking water and essential supplies in Jesus’ Name to earthquake-stricken communities in Myanmar.
Samaritan’s Purse is distributing essential supplies to hard-hit communities and installing water filtration points in and around Naypyidaw, Myanmar’s capital, to help the Burmese recover from a catastrophic 7.7-magnitude earthquake. At the same time, we continue to treat injured people at our field hospital.
The relief kits provided by Samaritan’s Purse include two blankets, a solar-powered light, a household water filtration system, a jerry can, tarp for temporary shelter, and a hygiene kit with toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, and other essentials. We’ve also deployed six water filtration systems that together can provide up to 20,000 people with three gallons of clean water each day. Four of the systems are already operational.
John Stone, a Samaritan’s Purse programs specialist in Myanmar, delivers a kit to an earthquake survivor in Myanmar.
“We are embodying the love of Christ both in clean water and in the supplies we are providing for every home,” said John Stone, a Samaritan’s Purse programs specialist in Myanmar. “Their world changed instantly and these communities often think, ‘Does anyone know that we are here? Does anyone care?’ But how beautiful it is that we can show up!”
Samaritan’s Purse teams on the ground have already distributed well more than 1,500 supply kits to communities in Myanmar with thousands more expected to be delivered in the weeks to come.
Stone explains the contents of every kit as interested family members watch.
Shelter Supplies Uplift a Burmese Village
Not one brick stands on top of another at Su’s* home after the massive March earthquake rattled her community in central Myanmar. Within seconds of the first tremors, a 4-foot-deep fissure split the earth directly beneath her house, reducing it to ruins. Su and her husband managed to escape, but her elderly father died in the rubble—the only casualty in her rural village.
“I miss my father,” Su recounted as she stood before the rubble. “This home took years to build, and a lot of money too, but now it’s gone along with him.” She and her husband of 40 years had only just finished constructing the home when the quake struck.
However, when Su heard of supplies being brought to her community through Samaritan’s Purse, she was relieved. With the tarp, she plans to build a temporary structure outside her son’s house, where they will live as they rebuild. While still heavy with sorrow, Su is encouraged to start again.
“I have been sad recently, but I am also very happy for these things,” Su said as she hauled away her bag of supplies. “I will slowly rebuild…but I will use the tarp as a tent for now.”
Khin marvels at her new gift of shelter plastic from Samaritan’s Purse.
Khin*, a mother of two from a village that neighbors Su, was preparing lunch when the quake struck. The plates and food crashed to the floor as she and her two children crawled out of the house before it fell apart.
“We escaped just in time,” Khin said. She, too, left the recent distribution with a bag of supplies from Samaritan’s Purse and also plans to use the tarp as temporary structure until it’s safe to move back into her actual home. “I am very happy and thankful for these things and that you all came to give these gifts,” she said.
All 98 households in Su’s community—and all 116 in Khin’s—went home with our bags of supplies and hearts filled with hope to rebuild again.
Clean Water Flows Again
The same tremors that toppled Su’s home also emptied the underground aquifers in her village, leaving families without water for drinking or farming.
In response, Samaritan’s Purse water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) teams installed a filtration system at the local school in Su’s community. This state-of-the-art water system pumps up to 20 gallons of purified drinking water a minute and is fixed with a large storage bladder.
Samaritan’s Purse personnel work to install a water filtration unit in Su’s community.
Another one of our systems was installed at a 1,000-bed hospital in Naypyidaw. The hospital’s water infrastructure was largely damaged in the quake. Kyi*, a mother of a patient in the wards, cried as she filled two large bottles with water.
“I know the importance of a drop of water,” she said. For over a year, Kyi had no access to clean water. A flood had wiped away her home in the rural mountains of Myanmar, and then the recent earthquake destroyed her new home. She had suffered from waterborne illnesses ever since then.
Kyi enjoys a taste of the fresh filtered water from Samaritan’s Purse.
“Because the water is fresh and not contaminated, I got first in line,” Kyi said. “As I drank the water, I drank it with confidence in my heart. … A lot of people’s lives have been lengthened because of this water.”
Others joined Kyi and flocked to the Samaritan’s Purse water point in the hospital parking lot as news spread that clean water had arrived.
Helping the Burmese in Jesus’ Name
Samaritan’s Purse is demonstrating God’s love to the people of Myanmar as they heal from the quake.
“We are the light of Christ coming to shine into this place,” Stone said. “While they try to rebuild, they are reminded that there is love in the midst of destruction.”
Samaritan’s Purse has already distributed well more than 1,500 non-food item kits to families in Myanmar.
Nick Bechert, the response manager for Samaritan’s Purse in Myanmar, agreed:
“It’s such a great time for the church to show up and be there for the people of Myanmar as they are processing questions about life. And the fact that we can be here as Christians, loving them in this moment, is incredible,” Bechert said.
Please pray for our teams as we bring medical care, supplies, and clean water to the people of Myanmar in Jesus’ Name.
“I am very very happy for this,” said recipient Gawa*. “Thank you so much for this gift!”
*Name changed for security
