President George W. Bush is briefed on Cyclone Nargis disaster relief efforts by Olivier Carduner, Mission Director of the USAID Regional Development Mission for Asia, second from right, at the U.S. ambassador's residence in Bangkok. Attending the briefing on the USG's efforts in Burma were U.S. Ambassador to Thailand Eric John on left and Bill Berger, Acting Senior Regional Advisor for the USAID Cyclone Nargis Disaster Assistance Response Team on the far right. Burma's military junta blocked assistance after the storm hit in May, refusing visas for relief workers and delivery of aid to the hardest-hit areas. An estimated 130,000 people were killed or are still missing and presumed dead.

President and Mrs. Bush Visit USAID-Funded Centers, Briefed on Burma Relief

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

BANGKOK - President George W. Bush visited an AIDS hospice supported the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Laura Bush met with the director of a USAID-funded clinic that provides free medical care to Burmese refugees and migrant workers. The Bushes also attended briefings on USAID's ongoing efforts in Burma to help the victims of Cyclone Nargis.

President Bush went to Mercy Centre in Bangkok to lend support to the center's USAID-subsidized AIDS hospice, its orphanages, and home for mothers and children with HIV/AIDS. The President met some of the 450 children who attend Mercy Centre's pre-schools and commended the center's founder, Father Joseph Maier, for providing shelter for street children and combating HIV/AIDS. With funding support from USAID, Mercy Centre has provided outreach education and home-based care to people living with HIV/AIDS and their families in low-income communities since 2004.

Mrs. Bush traveled to Mae Sot, near the Burma border, to meet refugees at the U.S. Government (USG)-assisted Mae La Refugee Camp and tour the USAID-supported Mae Tao Clinic. Since 1998, USAID contributions have helped the clinic reach 150,000 migrants and displaced Burmese each year.

In addition, USAID provides cross-border support to the Burmese Medical Association and to Burmese health workers who treat internally displaced people living in the conflict-affected eastern areas of the country. Mrs. Bush discussed health issues affecting Burmese migrants and displaced people with Mae Tao Clinic's founder and director, Dr. Cynthia Maung. Mrs. Bush and Dr. Cynthia conferred on Burma's repressive regime in a teleconference last December.

At separate briefings, the President and Mrs. Bush learned that USAID is ensuring that the survivors of May's Cyclone Nargis have access to food, revitalized fields and rice paddies, and that they can re-establish their livelihoods and recover from trauma.

USAID is providing seed and tools to Burmese farmers, recapitalization of micro-credit programs, and support for debris clearance, infrastructure repair and non-agrarian livelihoods, said Olivier Carduner, the Mission Director for USAID's Regional Development Mission for Asia. USAID's longer-term programs in Burma are continuing to support the prevention and control of infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS and avian influenza.

USAID's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance and Food for Peace programs provided $40.5 million of the USG's $50 million in humanitarian assistance to following Cyclone Nargis. More than 20 NGOs and international organizations have received USG funding to deliver this assistance, which has reached more than 1 million Burmese.

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