Supply Trucks to Laputta

Until bulk NGO got in, the fastest way to get help to remoter areas was to load light trucks packed with essentials. People were grouped in camps of 1000-1500 people and our objective was to send individual  trucks to as many camps as we can. Each truck contained 3 tons of rice, 1000 each of towels, shirts, longyi (sarongs), plates, spoons plus communal cooking equipment, traditional Burmese medicines, candles, torches, mosquito nets, etc.  One truck could be loaded in Rangoon in the course of a day and be at a camp within twelve hours. The cost of hiring and loading one truck was just under $15,000.  We sent three trucks down but have now stopped as the people have been moved from the monastery camps. We are now sending bulk supplies down by barge to be distributed to families from our ships. This is far more cost effective.

Pandaw Team leave Inya Lake Hotel on 22 May,Chief Cook Ko Po Koh second from left, Barman Ko Myo Kyaw centre

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Bodhi Kyaung Taik at Laputta, monastery halls utilised for family accommodation

Communal cooking area at the monastery

Offering to the Sayadaw who will redistribute to the people

Ko Po Koh looking a bit tired after handing out towels and domestic items

Plastic plates and cups from Thailand and China

Blankets from Pakokku

Note state of roofs. We are sending a construction team down with materials to fix the roofs to keep people dry through the monsoon months.

Stopping at a government refugee camp to deliver rice and clothes

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