Strong earthquake strikes northern Myanmar; bridge, gold mine collapse, about 12 feared dead

By Associated Press, Published: November 10 | Updated: Sunday, November 11, 5:44 AM Source：http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/magnitude-66-earthquake-strikes-northern-myanmar-no-injuries-immediately-reported/2012/11/10/a99fb4d6-2ba3-11e2-aaa5-ac786110c486_story.html YANGON, Myanmar — A strong earthquake of magnitude-6.8 struck northern Myanmar on Sunday, collapsing a bridge and a gold mine, damaging several old Buddhist pagodas and leaving as many as 12 people feared dead.

A slow release of official information left the actual extent of the damage unclear after Sunday morning’s strong quake. Myanmar has a poor official disaster response system, despite having lost upwards of 140,000 people to a devastating cyclone in 2008. Myanmar’s second-biggest city of Mandalay reported no casualties or major damage as the nearest major population center to the main quake Mandalay lies about 117 kilometers (72 miles) south of the quake’s epicenter near the town of Shwebo. The U.S. Geological Society reported a 5.8-magnitude aftershock later Sunday, but there were no initial reports of new damage or casualties. Smaller towns closer to the main quake’s epicenter were worse-hit. A report late Sunday on state television MRTV said 100 homes, some government buildings and a primary school were damaged in the Thabeikyin, a town known for gold mining not far from the epicenter. It put the latest casualty toll from the quake at four dead, 53 injured and four missing, a death toll lower than independently compiled tallies of around a dozen. An official from Myanmar’s Meteorological Department said the magnitude-6.8 quake struck at 7:42 a.m. local time. The area surrounding the epicenter is underdeveloped, and casualty reports were coming in piecemeal, mostly from local media. The region is a center for mining of minerals and gemstones, and several mines were reported to have collapsed. The biggest single death toll was reported by a local administrative officer in Sintku township — on the Irrawaddy River near the quake’s epicenter — who told The Associated Press that six people had died there and another 11 were injured. He said some of the dead were miners who were killed when a gold mine collapsed. He spoke on condition of anonymity because local officials are normally not allowed to release information to the media. Rumors circulated in Yangon of other mine collapses trapping workers, but none of the reports could be confirmed. According to news reports, several people died when a bridge under construction across the Irrawaddy River collapsed east of Shwebo. The bridge linked the town of Sintku, 65 kilometers (40 miles) north of Mandalay on the east bank of the Irrawaddy, with Kyaukmyaung on the west bank. The website of Weekly Eleven magazine said four people were killed and 25 injured when the bridge, which was 80 percent finished, fell. The local government announced a toll of two dead and 16 injured. All of the victims appeared to be workers. However, a Shwebo police officer, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said just one person was confirmed dead from the bridge’s collapse, while five were still unaccounted for.

US President Barack Obama to visit Burma

8 November 2012 BBC News Fresh from his election win, Barack Obama will this month become the first US president to visit Burma, the White House says.

He will meet President Thein Sein and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. It is part of a three-leg tour from 17 to 20 November that will also take in Thailand and Cambodia. The government of Burma has begun implementing economic, political and other reforms, a process the Obama administration sought to encourage. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was previously the most senior US official to go to Burma when she visited in December 2011. 'Democratic transition' Mr Obama's Burma stop is part of a trip built around the summit of the Association of South East Asian Nations in Cambodia, which leaders from China, Japan and Russia will also attend. In a statement, White House spokesman Jay Carney said Mr Obama intended to "speak to civil society to encourage Burma's ongoing democratic transition". The BBC's David Bamford says the trip - Mr Obama's first foreign initiative since his re-election this week - reflects the importance that the US has placed on normalising relations with Burma. This process has moved forward relatively swiftly, our correspondent adds, and it represents an opportunity for the US to have a greater stake in the region and so at least partly counter the dominant influence of China. Reforms have been taking place in Burma since elections in November 2010 saw military rule replaced with a military-backed nominally civilian government. Since then many political prisoners have been freed and censorship relaxed. The party of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was released from years of house arrest after the elections, has rejoined the political process after boycotting the 2010 polls. It now has a small presence in parliament after a landslide win in by-elections in April. In response, the US has appointed a full ambassador to Burma and suspended sanctions. It is also set to ease its import ban on goods from Burma, a key part of remaining US sanctions. Human rights groups are likely to criticise Mr Obama's visit as premature, given that the ruling government has failed to prevent outbreaks of communal violence in the west of the country. Clashes between Buddhists and Muslims in Rakhine state have left more than 100,000 people - mostly members of the stateless Muslim Rohingya minority - displaced.

Aung San Suu Kyi begins U.S. tour

http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/18/world/suu-kyi-us-visit/index.html

Aung San Suu Kyi begins U.S. tour
(CNN) -- Myanmar democracy activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi kicked off her 17-day tour of the United States on Tuesday by meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
.........

"We have this plan throughout the country that when refugees come, we try and find sponsors, and I don't know yet about Fort Wayne," Clinton told Suu Kyi on Tuesday.

"I'm looking forward to visiting Fort Wayne," Suu Kyi replied. "There's all sorts of interesting things happening in Fort Wayne."

As part of Suu Kyi's U.S. tour, she will visit the Indiana city, home to one the United States' largest populations of Burmese expatriates. Since the early 1990s, about 5,000 Burmese have carved out a life there.

De'ang/Palaung Tribe Outreach

In April 2002, Hope Student Center, an outreach work to the de’ang, was established. It is located in Mei Hang village. This village is two miles away from Lashio (Shan State) with an estimated number of 120 de’ang families.

The Center has a daily schedule session for prayers and Bible reading. The children were taught about the Bible and the Burmese language. Through the Bible teachings, the children have the opportunity to know God and understand about the Christian faith. The children are required to join in all the activities at the Center. When the ministry first started, the Center took in 20 Buddhist de’ang children and some children had became Christians.

This year, there are 60 children at the Center. Among them, 50 children are Christians. Ten unbelieving children belonged to the de’ang and Han people group. The religion of the de’ang is Buddhism whereas the Han are ancestral worshippers. Thirty children have dedicated their whole life to serve God.


The illiteracy rate of the de’ang is high as there is no school in their remote villages. In mid 2011, the Sponsor-A-Child ministry started to set up school in three de’ang villages, Kai Dui, Bang Kang and Na Hong.

Na Hong School will start the semester in September 2012. The de’ang students in Kai Dui (38 students) and Bang Kang (50 students) School are from Buddhist family background. Besides providing academic education, the schools organize evangelistic outreach activities to lead the children to believe in Jesus. Leading the children to Jesus is a bridge to win the adults to God.

A Student Testimony of Experiencing God’s Grace

I am Chen Zhi Wen. I am a de’ang and my native name is “Ai Tong”. My father is still around but my mother passed away when I was a very young and naïve boy.

Few years after the demise of my mother, my father learnt of Mei Hang Student Center through a friend. At the age of eight, my father sends me to Mei Hang Student Center. At that time, I was a very innocent child and did not study in school before. The Center arranged for my kindergarten studies at a school. Since then, I started to study year after year and now in grade five.

Since the day I stepped into the Center, I have every opportunity to hear of the gospel. Indeed, it is God’s grace. Now, it has been six years of stay at the Center. I go to Sunday school with my schoolmates and memorized Bible verses. But then at that time, I could not have a full understanding of the Bible. After three years in the Sunday school, I started to realize that Jesus loves me. Jesus is the redeemer of all mankind in the world. I accepted Jesus as my Saviour with a sincere heart. In June 2011, at age of 13, I received water baptism. I have decided to follow Jesus wholeheartedly. Since then, my life was filled with peace and joy. Glory to God!

Since I came to the Center, my father did not visit me and it is already five years. When I grow up and completed my studies, I wish to share the gospel to my father, my brothers and close friends. I do not know where my home village and to commit this matter to God.


Prayer Items

- Mei Hang Student Center and the SAC schools as a good rapport and platform for
the gospel outreach.

- The life of the coworkers (student center) and school teachers as a strong witness of the
love and grace of the Almighty God. Good health, wisdom and strength to serve.

- The de’ang students are weak intellectually. Need God’s wisdom and strength to
cope and learn well in their studies. Hearts to be receptive to make the decision to
receive salvation.

- The thirty children that dedicated their whole life to serve God. Faithfulness and
commitment for this decision made to God.

- God’s guidance that Chen Zhi Wen (student at Center) will reconcile with his father and
brothers.

Note: Article from Partners Internationals (CNEC Myanmar) 2012 Report. Pictures are taken when I was there in 2008.

Bay Area Burmese Churches and Fellowships Funfair and Concert

Ethnic Violence in Rakhine State: Analysis and Updates

Storify by LinkAsia
After two weeks of intense fighting that left at least 50 dead and displaced over 30,000 people in Myanmar's Rakhine state, an uneasy calm has descended on the region. This Storify looks at the root causes of the violence, and updates the unfolding situation on the ground.

UPDATE 6.25:
An uneasy peace has descended on Myanmar's Rakhine state, yet some of the region's biggest problems are just beginning. Authorities have to deal with 90,000 displaced citizens, simmering tensions, and the smoldering ruins of Sittwe's neighborhoods.

As Violence Dies Down in Rakhine, Real Struggles Begin

http://storify.com/LinkAsiaNews/decades-of-tension-erupt-in-rakhine-ethnic-violenc/elements/4fe8e2b0156367cc2f25c038

East Asia 2012 - A Conversation with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi