Women's Day / Aung San Suu Kyi's Birthday

Burmese American Women's Alliance (BAWA) Presents

A Celebration of
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's Birthday &
Burma's Women's Day

DATE: Saturday, June 14, 2008
TIME: 5 PM to 8 PM
LOCATION:
Los Cerritos Community Center
3377 Alder Ave, Fremont, CA
View Map»

Aung San Suu Kyi is a national hero in the fight for a free Burma and a symbol of hope in the downtrodden country. In 1991, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize "for her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights" and became an international symbol of peaceful resistance and courage in the face of hardship and oppression. In 1990, she was put under house arrest by the government and remains there to this day.

The event will include...
►BURMESE MUSICAL ICON DAW MAR MAR AYE’S SPEECH AND PERFORMANCES
►PRAYERS BY PRIESTS AND MONKS FROM MULTIPLE RELIGIONS
►A SHORT FILM ABOUT BURMA & DAW AUNG SAN SUU KYI
►BURMESE FOOD WILL BE SERVED.

For more info, please visit:
bawalliance.org

Rebuild BURMA - Fund Raiser at Space Gallery

Cocktails - Silent Auction
Burmese Appetizers - Burmese Dance Performance

Space Gallery
1141 Polk Street, San Francisco, CA

Friday Jun 6, 2008
7 PM to Midnight

On June 6, we plan to tell the story of the Burmese cyclone victims’ plight with an intimate photo exhibit, as well as a silent auction of gorgeous Burmese photos for the benefit of the disaster survivors.

View Flyer [PDF]

Cyclone Relief Fund Raising Event Announced

We want to cordially invite you to our Cyclone Relief Fund Raising Event as a first ever SF Bay Area Burmese Community effort for Cyclone Nargis Victims of Burma.

The programs of the event will include:

• Food Fair from Burmese Organizations and Donors
• Burmese Ethnic Cultural Shows and Dances,
• Multi-religious Prayers,
• Speakers and Cyclone Aftermaths Presentations.

• Burma’s most renowned Classic Singer Daw Mar Mar Aye will help perform in our event with Metta.

• Students of Theravada Dhamma Society (TDS) will offer Swan (Alms food) to Buddhist Monks from Bay Area Monasteries.

• Karen Fellowship will help perform the Karen Bamboo Dance if chance is given.

• United States Burmese Medical Association (USBMA) will offer a free Health Screening and Education program for the community. There will be a First Aid team during the event too.

Sunday, June 15, 2008 -- 10:00am - 3:00pm
Capuchino High School Campus
1501 Magnolia Avenue, San Bruno, CA
View Map»

Nick Leaving for Burma Tomorrow

Lisa Amin Reporting
ABC7 KGO News - Watch Video

Chairman of IBMO in San Francisco Bay Area - update

photo by Peter Morris

Venerable U Pannya Vamsa
Chairman of the International Burmese Monks Organization
will be in the San Francisco Bay Area this weekend

Burma - The Local Angle

On May 5, members of the Burmese Community in the San Francisco Bay Area responded to news of the devastating Cyclone Nargis in Burma by forming a Joint Action Committee.

Just two days later, individuals and representatives of some 27 organizations came together for the first meeting of the JAC. At that meeting it was decided to initiate fund raising on multiple fronts and to channel relief funds via the International Burmese Monks Organization (IBMO) - aka Sasana Moli.

Because the ruling junta in Burma has shown that it can't be trusted to channel assistance to those in need, donor contributions have paled in comparison with those for the recent earthquake in Sichuan, China.

Some 2.5 million lives are at stake in Burma. The Burmese monks are trusted by the people and they are not waiting for permission from the junta to bring critically needed assistance to the cyclone survivors.

The International Burmese Monks Organization (IBMO)

The IBMO was formed last October following the brutal crackdown of peaceful demonstrators in Burma the previous month. Burmese monks living in exile around the world came together in Los Angeles and formed the organization to raise international awareness of Burma's situation and to lobby international governments.
burmesemonks.org

The internationally renowned Avaaz organization has raised over $2 million and is channeling this money primarily through the IBMO. A recent report from Avaaz is here:
www.avaaz.org

Venerable Sayadaw U Pannya Vamsa

Venerable U Pannya Vamsa - co-founder and Chairman of the IBMO who makes his home in Penang, Malaysia - will be in the San Francisco Bay Area this weekend.

U Pannya Vamsa has been on an international tour, urging the global public to join the ongoing struggle for Burma. For over 50 years, he has tirelessly worked to establish Buddhist centers around the world. He has now taken up the responsibility to raise funds for the victims of cyclone Nargis and to ensure efficient distribution of the collected donations. We encourage everyone to take advantage of this rare opportunity to hear a sermon by the abbot.

Scheduled Sermons:

Saturday, May 31, 2008, 6:00 PM
Metta Nanda Vihara Dharma Retreat (Monastery)
4619 Central Avenue
Fremont, CA 94536
Contact: (510) 795-0405

Sunday, June 1, 2008, 6:30 PM
(Both English and Burmese languages)
Jefferson High School
699 Serra Monte Blvd.
Daly City, CA 94015
Theravada Dhamma Society
Contact: (415) 793-2512

More Info [PDF]

More on U Pannya Vamsa:
smh.com.au
nzherald.co.nz
jendhamuni.com
havecoffeewillwrite.com

Eyewitness to Nargis

(Image: Sitagu Sayadaw reassures a patient suffering from dehydration and shock, from the flickr album by a user named Cyclone Nargis.)

In the aftermath of cyclone Nargis, a 165 MPH monster that ripped through Burma's Irrawaddy Delta and turned much of the fertile region into a waste land, green-clad soldiers from the Tatmadaw (the Burmese Army) are nowhere to be found. Instead, maroon-robbed Buddhist monks emerge as the heroes leading the rescue and recovery effort.

A flickr photo album from an anonymous user named Cyclone Nargis shows the efforts of Sitagu Sayadaw (the Abbot of Sitagu Monastery) to bring relief to the survivors.

Rangoon University, already suffering from neglect since the student-led uprising in 1988. now resembles a jungle. The congregation hall still stands, but surrounded by abandoned lecture halls and uprooted trees. A Picasa photo stream by MoeMaka shows the devastation.

Another Picasa photo stream (warning: contains disturbing images) by Salai Than shows a closer look at the human toll and the devastation to the land.

Chairman of IBMO in San Francisco Bay Area

Announcing Two Sermons by
The Venerable U Pannya Vamsa
Abbot of Dhammikarama Burmese Buddhist Temple, Penang, Malaysia
President of Sasana Moli, International Burmese Monks Organization (IBMO)

As president of the IBMO, Venerable U Pannya Vamsa has been on an international tour, urging the global public to join the ongoing struggle for Burma. For over 50 years, he has tirelessly worked to establish Buddhist centers and spread the Dharma around the world. He has now taken up the responsibility to raise funds for the victims of cyclone Nargis and to ensure efficient distribution of the collected donations. We encourage everyone devoted to Buddha's teachings, the survival of Buddhism, and the cause of the cyclone victims to take advantage of this rare opportunity to hear a sermon by the abbot.

Scheduled Sermons:

Saturday, May 31, 2008, 6:00 PM
Metta Nanda Vihara Dharma Retreat (Monastery)
4619 Central Avenue
Fremont, CA 94536
Contact: (510) 795-0405

Sunday, June 1, 2008, 6:30 PM
(Both English and Burmese languages)
Jefferson High School
699 Serra Monte Blvd.
Daly City, CA 94015
Theravada Dhamma Society
Contact: (415) 793-2512

More Info [PDF]

March and Vigil Targeting ASEAN

May 23, 2008 - March and Vigil
Singapore Consulate, San Francisco

KPFA Evening News Coverage [Burma segment starts at 36:45]
Press Release [PDF]