The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday called for further local efforts to help the victims of Cyclone Nargis that hit Myanmar earlier last month, saying the government is determined to continue to help members of the international community in need.
Addressing a press conference attended by MOFA officials and nongovernmental organizations involved in relief efforts in Myanmar, Deputy Foreign Minister Andrew Hsia (夏立言) said he hoped that humanitarian aid to the victims would continue.
“We at MOFA will never lag behind other nations in providing those in the international community in need with humanitarian assistance,” Hsia said.
He added the ministry would continue its successful cooperation with NGOs to undertake relief work in Myanmar.
Now that a second relief group providing mostly medical assistance to the cyclone victims has returned, Dharma Master Hsin Tao (心道法師) urged the international community to pay more attention to the country’s orphans and drinking water quality in the disaster areas.
The relief group was comprised of Buddhist masters from the Ling Jiou Mountain Buddhist Society (LJMBS), rescuers from the International Headquarters SAR (search and rescue), Taiwan, and doctors and nurses from the Taiwan International Health Action (Taiwan IHA).
Hsin Tao, born in Myanmar, is founder of the LJMBS, the first relief group from Taiwan permitted by the Burmese government to carry out humanitarian assistance immediately after the cyclone devastated Myanmar early last month.
Stressing that the world is without boundaries and that it is the responsibility of all its inhabitants, the Master promised that the LJMBS would continue to focus on care for an estimated 2,000 orphans as well as try to improve the country’s water quality in the next phase of its relief efforts.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY JENNY W. HSU
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