Since the coup on February 1, 2021, many displaced people in various parts of Myanmar have fled to the Thai border.
Support from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and international NGOs rarely reaches internally displaced people, so Myanmar citizen volunteers living on the Thai side deliver food out of concern for their plight.
The Japan Burma Relief Centre (BRCJ), which has been supporting Myanmar for many years, sends relief funds to deliver food to the region.
Keiko Nakao, the representative of BRCJ, delivered aid supplies directly to a Karen refugee village (approximately 1,000 refugees) school on the Thai-Myanmar border, and CARRY THE SUN was also delivered.
On August 11, we purchased a large quantity of rice, cooking oil, salt, instant noodles, laundry detergent, toothpaste, toothbrushes, and colored pencil sets for children at Macro, a large supermarket in Mae Sot.
The next day, the 12th, I went to the Mae Sot market at 4 AM.
The reason for going to the market early in the morning is that B-grade vegetables can be bought cheaply.
We purchased many kinds of vegetables such as crooked cucumbers, irregular leafy greens, onions, and carrots.
We loaded two cars with relief supplies and drove south along the border for about an hour.
Since it rained heavily on the night of the 11th, we enlisted the help of people gathered at a temple to transfer the relief supplies to a 4WD vehicle.
The original plan was to deliver the supplies by boat from the river, but the heavy rain caused the river to swell, and we had to change the planned delivery route.
We urgently decided to transport the supplies by land, going as far as the 4WD vehicle could manage, and then walking through muddy roads.
In this way, we delivered a month's worth of food, daily necessities, and CARRY THE SUN to the camp where 1,000 refugees were waiting.
That day was the Karen New Year festival (Wrist Tying), and children who had been at the temple were returning.
We were able to explain how to use it and hand it over to the children we met in front of the school.
Although it was a short time, we were able to interact with the children while keeping an eye on the time it would take to return on the muddy road.
We have asked the local New Blood Center staff, who will be transporting aid supplies again, for their feedback on the use of CARRY THE SUN.
＊Due to the nature of the military attack, please understand that detailed information such as the location of the refugee camp and place names cannot be disclosed.
