Cablegate: In Burma, Small Ngo Efforts Score Big Impact

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TAGS: PGOV PHUM ECON PREL BM
SUBJECT: IN BURMA, SMALL NGO EFFORTS SCORE BIG IMPACT

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1. (SBU) SUMMARY: While international NGOs and organizations
in Burma face increasing pressure on their activities
(reftel), local initiatives to improve health and educational
and meet other basic development needs are growing. These
projects, often organized by NLD-affiliated civic leaders and
funded at least in part by donations from foreign tourists
and other overseas sources, are generally unregistered. They
operate in an informal, low-key manner to avoid the need to
seek official blessing or raise GOB concerns. Many make a
significant impact on their target communities, and offer us
vehicles to develop civil society and local leaders. END
SUMMARY

Health Care in the Inle Lake Region
-----------------------------------
2. (SBU) Relying largely on private foreign donations, former
NLD Central Committee member U Ohn Maung funded the creation
and staffing of a large clinic in his Shan hometown of
Naungshwe. The clinic, opened in 2005, provides services to
50 villages daily and is open seven days a week, according to
the clinic's resident doctor. U Ohn Maung invites foreign
doctors visiting the Inle Lake region as tourists to the
clinic; many subsequently donate equipment and
pharmaceuticals. The clinic's resident doctor recently used
donations to purchase blood-testing equipment in Bangkok.
New additions to the clinic building will house a surgery
bay, an x-ray room, and a maternity ward. The doctor
estimates the total value of the clinic's construction
exceeds $100,000, though many of donations were in-kind, such
as building supplies and equipment. U Ohn Maung acknowledged
that his past as an NLD MP-elect keeps security personnel
interested, but says that they have not interfered in the
clinic's work to date.

Water and Medical Care in Kalaw Hills
--------------------------------------
3. (SBU) In Kalaw, a former British hill station of Kalaw not
far from Inle Lake, another former political prisoner and NLD
M.P.-elect, Tommy Edzani, runs a small organization -- the
Rural Development Society -- to provide nearby Palaung, Pa'o
and Danu villages with basic health and nutritional care.
Edzani said his NGO has assisted over 250 villages near Kalaw
with water systems, health care, education, and sanitation
since it began in the mid-1990s. Contrasting RDS' experience
building water systems with similar UNDP efforts, Edzani said
that he consults regularly with local hill tribes to get
their communities' buy-in and also provides the subsistence
farmers in local villages with micro-credit loans. The loans
allow the farmers to buy fertilizer, increase yields, and
even out income disparities between crop seasons. Edzani
raises funds by escorting tourists who trek the hill trails
to mountain villages to project sites so they can see the
needs and his work first-hand. Many tourists continue to
provide funding to RDS after they return to the U.S. and
Europe.

Philanthropic Monks in Mandalay
-------------------------------
4. (SBU) Enjoying one of the highest profiles among the
Burma's unconventional civil society projects, the Phaung Daw
Oo monastery of Mandalay is led by two monks, U Nayaka and
his brother U Zateka, and has provided free education for
over 51,392 underprivileged students since it opened for
primary school students in 1993. In 2001, the school
expanded to include a high school. The quality of the
education at the monastery easily surpasses that of
government schools, with a mix of the required government
curriculum and international-standard courses in computer

RANGOON 00001036 002.2 OF 002

skills, science, and foreign languages. Thanks to a generous
funding from the Government of Australia and from private
British and Australian donors, the school has expanded and
now provides free education to almost 7,000 students per
year. Foreign volunteer teachers have helped the Burmese
teachers on the school's staff of 148 instructors, resulting
in a teaching corps with an excellent command of English and
open, international teaching styles. The school has a modern
computer lab, extensive library, and well-equipped
classrooms, far above the level of resources provided to
state schools. Working with the Burnett Institute, the
school also runs an HIV/AIDS prevention program for students
and offers an anti-TIP module in its high school curriculum.
The school's chief concern is that it remains dependent on
foreign funding to meet its substantial operating costs.

Former Political Prisoners Running a Free School
--------------------------------------------- ---
5. (SBU In 2005, a mother and daughter who are both former
political prisoners, opened a primary school out of their
home near Rangoon for parents who cannot afford the fees
needed to send their children to state-run primary schools.
They currently provide free education for 130 children,
relying on three volunteer teachers. Funding comes from the
community and foreigners who have provided donations of books
or cash. NLD Youth leader Min Ko Naing quietly assists the
school's fundraising. Security officials monitor the school
closely, but it continues to operate without interference
despite a recent tightening of GOB control over private
education. The mother-daughter team hope to offer their
volunteer teachers a regular monthly salary of 30,000 kyat
(USD 24).

Buddhist Groups Helping People with AIDS
-----------------------------------------
6. (U) In Rangoon, a collective of Buddhist associations
named "Yetana Metta" are providing clinic and in-home care
for people living with HIV/AIDS, as well as caring for the
needs of destitute senior citizens and monks. Last year, its
Rangoon clinic provided care for 300 persons living with
AIDS. Yetana Metta has worked informally since 2004, relying
on local private donations and a small amount of UNICEF
funding, and is applying this year for official registration
as an indigenous NGO.

7. (SBU) COMMENT: While international donors, INGOs and UN
agencies find it increasingly difficult to overcome regime
paranoia and obstruction of their assistance programs,
civic-minded Burmese citizens have found new creative ways to
offer rays of hope to those in need. Their small scale and
informal organization are key to their success; an enlarged
or more formal profile would likely attract negative
attention. As we travel around the country, we inform these
local groups of our small grants program. Burmese people
have become skillful at getting around the military. Our
support encourages their efforts and helps potential leaders
develop. END COMMENT.
VILLAROSA

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