Since Cyclone Nargis devastated Myanmar on May 2, several members of American University's Student Campaign for Burma have taken personal initiatives to increase aid to the country, according to Leslie Miller, former president of the AUSCB and a 2008 graduate from the School of International Service.
Myanmar's military government obstruction of international aid may lead to 1.5 million deaths. Bodies still litter the rivers and streets weeks after the disaster. The lack of food and clean water has made the 2.4 million survivors vulnerable to cholera, typhoid and malaria, according to USA Today.
The military junta changed the name of the country to Myanmar when it came to power, though many activists and refugees from the country continue to use its former name - Burma.
Though the military government has stopped three flights of international aid at Yangon airport, the United Nations' World Food Program will continue to send help, Elisabeth Byrs, spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told USA Today.
The AUSCB works closely with the United States Campaign for Burma and local Burmese Americans to raise support across AU and the D.C. area, said Lauren Tatarsky, the club's secretary and a junior in the School of International Service. The AU chapter's 10 members have spearheaded several events across campus.
Since the AUSCB's founding in 1996, the club has sent 15 students to the Thailand/Myanmar border through the Alternative Break program to meet with organizations, Tatarsky said.
Last year, students met with 20 different organizations involved with social justice and peace in Myanmar and spent time completing an art project with a school for Burmese migrant worker children. Students gained an inside look into the Myanmar political situation through conversations with journalists, politicians, activists and tortured refugees, according to Caitlin Burnett, an SIS graduate who co-led the 2008 trip.
"Each year that students go to the border, they come back passionate and energized to pass their knowledge and experience on to the rest of the campus community," she said.
At least once each semester, the group displays flags on the quad in numbers that represent a specific group of victims, such as child soldiers or political prisoners, Tatarsky said.
The organization also sends funds to help victims as well as collecting hundreds of signatures from AU students to petition the UN and the United States to take action against the military junta, she said. Last year, the club sent U.S. Campaign for Burma, the national organization, $192. AU Activity Funds prevented AUSCB from sending more, said Miller.
Tatarsky stressed the importance of volunteer work to help the victims of Myanmar.
"The Burmese people and Burmese activists alike hope that [the cyclone] will trigger the international community to recognize that they must take a more serious approach to ousting the junta in order to save Myanmar and the lives of all who live there," she said.
