Hello...I thought I'd post a brief update on what we are up to here in Myanmar....and what we have been able to accomplish during the past 13 days...
We now have dependable Internet service in our room...NOT always available here...three local SIM cards for our hand phones ...and while they do not allow us to make outgoing International Calls...they do allow us to communicate with other team members and our local NGO partners......Our Biz Cards are now in English / Myanmar / Burmese...We have car with reasonable air conditioning and a very good driver who understands English and actually knows where he is going....We also have some VERY good local contacts thanks to our good friends Chris C and Steve R...and three vetted, well organized local NGO partners and some cash which has been converted in to the local currency ready for our swoop thru the area.
Today we bought a truck load of food, medicines, clothing and other urgently needed items that we will deliver tomorrow to very dedicated young local couple who run a small orphanage with 19 children just outside Yangon...we met them through some good friends in the Philippines.
This coming Saturday we will be buying the first 6 Water Buffalo for a local version of The Buffalo Bank that we assisted setting up in the Philippines in 2002.
Next Saturday, July 5 th we have been invited to join another local NGO we have partnered with as they go into the devastated area to provide food to approx 2,500 people.
All in all I feel that we have done pretty well considering the real time situation that exists here.
Once again we have accomplished more with less.
Ed Artis-Yangon, Myanmar
Wednesday June 25, 2008
PS....The Photos that I have posted were taken in the small office that we have set up in our hotel in Yangon.
WELCOME.... you are visitor number...
Watch The Knightsbridge International Team in Action by clicking on the poster below...
Adrian Belic's multi award winning documentary " Beyond the Call..."
Modern Day Knights
The CBS EARLY SHOW 2007-2008
Photos taken at the Hotel Montana site in Haiti January thru March 2010
Where SunEnergy Power International, Co-founder, our good friend and longtime KI Team Member, Sir Walt Ratterman lost his life while serving those in need on Jan 12, 2010
Improvised Kitchens
Provide us with our meals...
Many of us sleep on the bare floors in schools and other government buildings....
Life was never easy but...this is our home and
Now we have to flee for our very lives...
With little or nothing...
Sometimes with only what we can carry...
On a more personal note....
On Thursday Oct 1st, I had my third heart attack since 2004 and will be having a heart cath and possible additional angioplastys tomorrow morning. UPDATES to this Blog and responses to your emails will be slower for only as long as it takes for me to recover. Thanks for your kind words, thoughts, prayers and continued support of our various missions. Ed Artis - A Knight Errant , Manila, Philippines
And furthermore
I am counting on this game of Life that I have been playing for the past 64 years to not end up being a Three Strikes and You're Oout kinda game...Thanks for the flowers John and Maggie from Flutes Across the World, Ojai, California and my very dear friends, The Mavrovich Family from New York...10/02/09
From my Room at The Philippine Heart Center
PRE OP 0630 Hrs 10/06/09 More Later
Hi Ho Hi Ho it's back to work I go...
I had my 3rd angiogram yesterday and the results show that two of my three stents are failing but only to a 50 % level so far and the US Department of Veterans Affairs ( The VA ) will not authorize replacing them until they have failed to at least 70 % so..It is back to work for me until my next heart attack, that would be # 4 if anyone is counting. A good thing too as I am far too busy to die just yet. IF YOU DOUBLE CLICK ON THE POSTER SHOWN ABOVE you will be able to find out more about some of our other humanitarian projects...Thank you for your support and encouragement over the years. This has truly been a TEAM EFFORT............ Ed Artis, A Knight Errant, Manila ....10/07/09
8th Annual Daniel Pearl World Music Days " Harmony for Humanity " October 1st thru 31st
Brought to you from The Republic of the Philippines by the Hard Rock Cafe-Makati in Association with Knightsbridge International
The areas hit by Tropical Storm Ondoy
Death and Destruction in the Philippines
Buildings were knocked off their foundations
and entire neighboorhoods were wiped out
Flooding forced many to the roof tops
The ground floor in thousands of homes flooded
Few could survive the flash floods
Cars were stacked like children's toys
stood on end and rammed into buildings.
Some managed to get to safety
Some climbed or were pulled to safety
Even climbing up to the telephone wires
Countless thousands were rescued
Hospitals were flooded and patients evacuated.
Tens of Thousands lost everything...
Homes, family...
And not all survived
As the clean up begins the Death Toll continues to rise as more and more bodies are found with 750 known to have perished and 300,000 forced to flee their homes and seek shelter in schools, churches and other facilities as of 10/12/09
Operation Smile Mission to Tawi Tawi 09/23 thru 09/26 The Team's Spl Chartered SeaAir Flight
From Zambo to Tawi2 Courtesy of the Governor
This Team is so ready to fly....
The Team's Home away from Home in Bongao,
Dinner with the Governor 09/23/09
Pre Op
Post Op
Pre Op
Post Op
The Smiles say it all
09/24/09 BEFORE
09/25/09 AFTER
Recoginition for Humanitarian Efforts
Certificate of Appreciation Sept. 2009
r3
Certificate of Appreciation May 2009
r4
Certificate of Appreciation May 2009
KI Office in Yangon, Myanmar # 1
KI Office in Yangon, Myanmar # 2
Area hit by Cyclone Nagis
Map of Myanmar the areas shown in RED are those which were most affected by the Cyclone
