New York, USA – In response to the continuing need of more than 2.5 million cyclone-displaced people, UNITED SIKHS is shipping 16 containers carrying 500 tonnes of food and medical supplies to Myanmar from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Meanwhile, we continue to provide daily Langgar (the Sikh tradition of serving hot meals cooked in a community kitchen), emergency supplies, water and shelter material in the Irrawaddy delta.

UNITED SIKHS has expanded its aid to areas like Shawe Pauk Kan, Dalat, Kyau Tan, Kun Changon, Kaut Maue, Dagon Seik Kan. Our volunteers are serving hot meals to survivors in make-shift camps. Since we started providing langgar on 16th May, more than 15,000 hot meals have been served.

Two more UNITED SIKHS volunteers, Devinderpal Singh and Inderjeet Singh from New Delhi, have joined the Relief team in Yangon to further support the relief efforts.

UNITED SIKHS volunteers serving hot meals	A child eating a hot meal

Tejpaul Kaur, a housewife and UNITED SIKHS volunteer in Yangon, stated, It is such a tragedy. People need food and clothing immediately or else they will die. she further added Continued efforts rely on community support and donations, which will provide food, clothing and medical supplies to those hardest hit by the cyclone.

Yangon-based UNITED SIKHS volunteer Ajaib Singh said, We are doing everything to help the survivors, but there is still a lot more to do.

We need dry rations, utensils, water pumps, tin sheets and plastic sheets for distribution to the survivors, said Jagjit Singh from Yangon.

Today we cooked 250 kilogram of rice with carrots and beans to serve 2500 people. We cooked on charcoal fire as there was no cooking gas available, said Sarabjit Singh, a UNITED SIKHS volunteer from Malaysia.

UNITED SIKHS aid volunteers distributing food supply

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said on Thursday, on seeing the first-hand the extent of the damage at Irrawaddy Delta, I told them that I, as well as the international community and the entire UN family will do everything possible to help. He said, I was encouraged by the relief effort, but that rapid reinforcements were needed

As of this week, the government of Myanmar has allowed all aid workers to enter the country to help the disaster-hit areas, according to BBC News. Due to the governments new sanction for aid workers, UNITED SIKHS may expand efforts in Myanmar, but any new effort will rely completely on public support.

If you wish to volunteer please email volunteer@unitedsikhs.org