For 17 years, I have had the privilege of documenting the heroic lives of the Burmese refugees both within the jungles of Burma and within the camps along the Thai/Burma border. I am a volunteer photographer who came to learn of the plight of the refugees through two remarkable American activists who began the NGO (non government organization) titled Buddhist Relief Mission. Ken and Visakha Kawasaki personally witnessed the brutal military coup of the democratic uprisings of Burma in 1988. So horrified by the massacre in the streets, they immediately began sending emergency medical equipment and funds for food to reach the thousands of streaming refugees fleeing gun fire on the borders of Burma to seek asylum in makeshift camps on the Thai/Burma border which have no UN assistance. The Kawasaki's were instrumental in assisting Dr. Cynthia Maung of the Mae Tao Clinic with building the clinic from a one room barn and providing medicine and medical equipment. They have tirelessly worked to build schools, clinics, tailor and weaving shops so the refugees can not only eat but can have a sustainable income from a trade while living in camps where work is not permitted when one has no papers and no country to call one's own. The camps are routinely attacked and burned by the regime who cross the border so medical supplies and food are always needed. The women and girls are abducted as sex slaves for the regime and are often killed or left with HIV.

Though BRM is helping thousands of refugees in various projects, I have become most personally involved with the project of aiding a 73 year old Burmese refugee woman who works from 4 am to dusk every day so young girls are not sold into brothels and that orphan children do not starve. I have lived with her while documenting her dedicated work of supplying rice to a Buddhist Monastery sheltering nearly 400 orphaned Burmese children. The orphanage is situated on the Thai/Burma border and since it sits along a war zone, the monks rely on her to bring in truck loads of rice. The monks daily go to the villagers, already poor themelves, and beg for their own food and on some days are only able to feed the children one bowl of rice. The need for rice is urgent and each month, BRM and I try to send this woman funding so she can purchase rice and take it to the borders where the monks receive the sackloads of rice. The children have lost their parents to either starvation, execution or torture by the regime. In the rich land of the hilltribes people of Burma, the regime forces men, women and children to build pipelines, dams and railroads. They are shackled like cattle and when too weak to work, they are shot on sight. Some parents fearing for the safety of their children, try to hide them in the monastery so their lives may be spared.

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Should you wish to send funding to buy rice for the orphans, note BRM is a 501(C)3 non-profit organization.
BRM has no overhead or administrative costs since it is soley volunteer run allowing 100 percent of donations to go to project specified. Donations are tax deductible - U.S. IRS.

Please send (US dollars only), a check or money order to:
BUDDHIST RELIEF MISSION
c/o Valerie King
354 Senator St.
Brooklyn, NY 11220
USA

IMPORTANT-Please specify (MONASTERY ORPHANAGE) so donation is used for rice. Include full address so tax receipt may be issued.
Should you wish to contact BRM, please visit www.brelief.org/orphanage/appeal.html.
Thank you for taking the time to help the orphaned children of Burma.

Valerie A. King
Volunteer photographer for BRM