Taiwan gov't to raise Myanmar quake relief funds, hold prayer events

Taipei, April 9 (CNA) The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) on Wednesday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week.

"While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions," OCAC head Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei.

Hsu said the fundraising campaign from Tuesday through May 31 will focus on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items such as drinking water, food and medical supplies.

Hsu said the funds raised through the campaign will support a five-year plan to fully rebuild the 60 affected overseas compatriot schools in Myanmar.

Funds raised through the campaign will also be used to support students from Myanmar living in Taiwan, more than 3,000 of whom are studying at high school level and above, Hsu said.

Donated funds will be used by the Myanmar Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce to procure and deliver medical supplies, which Hsu said are the most urgently needed among all essential items.

Most of the essential items will be procured in Myanmar, with some coming from neighboring countries and a portion expected to be shipped from Taiwan, Hsu added.

Hsu said most people in the city of Mandalay and nearby areas in Myanmar lost the means to support themselves and are now dependent on external aid.

Hsu added that international assistance has been "far from promising," urging people in Taiwan to support the fundraising campaign.

Meanwhile, Hsu said that many students from Myanmar in Taiwan have been left feeling "extremely anxious" as their families back home only have access to limited assistance.

The OCAC will hold a multifaith nondenominational prayer event on Friday evening at the University of Taipei for students from Myanmar, followed by another on Saturday afternoon at National Chung Hsing University in Taichung, she said.

Wang Yi-ju (王怡如), director-general of the OCAC's Department of Overseas Compatriot Student Affairs, welcomed faculty members and other students who wish to offer their blessings to Myanmar to attend the events along.

She said that representatives from Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam will lead the prayer rituals during the events, symbolically sending "hope, light, and warmth" to those in Myanmar.

The death toll from the Myanmar earthquake has surpassed 3,600 and is "still climbing." It also cited a United Nations report that over 17.2 million people living in affected areas are in urgent need of necessities such as food, drinking water, healthcare, and emergency shelter, according to the Associated Press on Tuesday.

Donations to OCAC's fundraising campaign can be made to the "Overseas Compatriot Culture and Education Foundation" (財團法人海華文教基金會) - a nonprofit organization supported by the council - via Cathay United Bank's Guanchian Branch (館前分行) to account number 001-50-169089-5.

Donors are asked to include "Myanmar Earthquake Relief Donation" (緬甸震災捐款) in the payment notes and to email their donation receipt along with their name, identification document number, and contact information to occeftw@gmail.com.