FLAO (Free Literature and Arts Organization) is a non profit organization fighting for the human rights of Burmese people. FLAO is composed monks, nuns, artists and writers but everybody can be a member. We organize the people for FLAO in France too.
FLAO was founded in 2008 in response to the aggravated conditions of the Burmese state after the cyclone Nargis, to preserve the human rights of the poor, orphans, developmentally challenged, physically disabled and marginalized groups within Burma.
To the present day there remain food shortages within isolated regions such as Chin State delta and other regions affected by cyclone Nargis. It is still the case that many minority areas receive no aid or support from the Government and aid is still withheld from foreign organizations who have the money and means to help. Current conditions of the Burmese economic system result in a financial divide between the average Burmese and a federal employee so vast that affording Government taxed food, becomes impossible. Many are left hungry.
Even with 3,000+ monastery run schools, these programs receive no funding and class room sizes are often swelling with over 100 students with very few resources. Government run schools cost several times what an average Burmese can afford and these private schools offer the only real education alternative. The monastery runs schools are independent schools open to under privileged children who otherwise would receive no education at all. Many students are orphans and housed in rooms with up to 30-50 children living in squalid conditions.
Developmentally and physically challenged groups face an even more depressing reality. With no social assistance programs in place, these unfortunate individuals take to the streets adopting begging as their only means for survival. In regions such as Karen state, our Government has even used people as human land-mine detectors and leaving the thereafter physically disabled to fend for themselves. Many of the victims are who can be seen pan handling in our urban centers. These people have a story and are human beings just like the rest of us who have ended up in very difficult circumstances.
While people are dying, of often treatable medical conditions like malaria, typhoid, and diarrhoea, rural areas do not posses any clinics or hospitals which can supply any form of treatment. Even within our cities, Government run hospitals remain ludicrously expensive and many Burmese simply stay home and die. After cyclone Nargis hit 30, 00,000 people were cut off from medical care and left stranded when our Government denied all foreign aid. Countless lives were lost without humane justification.
Our goal with help from funding and volunteer work will be to begin supplying food to starving children, stationery and basic school supplies, and support for children to attend privately run schools, to create professional assistance opportunities for handicapped groups and underprivileged individuals (such as computer skills and special education), and provide emergency medical supplies to privately run clinics.
Any donation is greatly appreciated and if you would like further information on our cause or can help in anyway, please contact us.
Email -flao.org@gmail.com
With regard
Free Literature and Art Organization
