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PANDAW CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME - IN BURMA: How Pandaw Founder, Paul Strachan gives back to Burma by funding rural healthcare and education

The Pandaw Charity was established in response to the devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis in 2008, converting their ships into floating hospitals. Seven Pandaw Clinics have since been established in rural locations around Pagan, providing around 5,000 free treatments a month with a full-time team of twenty medics, paramedics and pharmacists.

Supporting education as well as healthcare in Burma, twelve schools have been built on remote river islands and in rural villages to offer an education to primary-aged children in these communities. On Thiri Island, Pandaw has now established a secondary school to allow village pupils to complete their education. Several other projects have been undertaken since Cyclone Nargis, including the Pandaw House for 50 female Nargis orphans at the Hpondawoo Monastery in Mandalay, donated by Brian and Vardie Pringle; the Pandaw Wing at the U Hla Tun Hospice, Mandalay and the Pandaw Clinic Barge which remained in the Delta for five years after Nargis. Pandaw is gradually expanding its goodwill further afield, setting up a library in Angkor Ban village in Cambodia which their Mekong guests thoroughly enjoy visiting and often donate school stationary and English language books.

"I have been engaged with Burma for thirty-five years and Burma has given me much. The Pandaw Charity is a way to give something back to Burma. It is also a way by which our passengers can say thank you to Burma for so many enriching experiences"
Paul Strachan, Founder of Pandaw Expeditions.

As a UK-registered charity, all donations go directly to the field and not on overheads. The charity is run by Pandaw employees on a pro-bono basis. Passengers have the opportunity to experience the tireless work of the Pandaw Charity first-hand as excursions to the clinics and schools are arranged as a valuable component of the onshore itinerary on the majority of their Irrawaddy expeditions.

If you are interested to donate towards a clinic, school or orphanage building, please contact Paul's Personal Assistant, Susyn Zabell, to find out more. With considerable expertise on the ground in Burma, Pandaw can rapidly facilitate such projects and manage their development for donors.