Postage Stamp Chat Board and Stamp Bulletin Board Forum

A few months ago there was a spirited debate on this board about Burma.

Not about the generals....there was total agreement between all posters on the thread about those evil parasites. The debate centred on the ethics of visiting Burma under its current leadership.

We copped a bit of flak about going, but Glen and I visited in December and encountered resiliant people very proud of their country and deeply scarred by their brutal government.

Everywhere we went ordinary people were living in absolutely dire poverty but begged us to encourage others to visit. Many people derive their income from tourism and the drying up of tourists has had a catastrophic affect on many.

Which brings us to Cyclone Nargis.........the west is looking on helplessly while the generals actively block any aid attempts, increasing the toll by the hour.

Because of this trip and contacts established from other Australians visiting Burma, I have been able to get money to a reliable contact in Rangoon who has been buying supplies for some surrounding villagers with the assistance of an Australian colleague who has flown into Rangoon to assist.

It is a drop in the ocean, but nonetheless it has helped at least a few families. None of this would have been possible if we had gone to Club Med instead of visiting Burma, seeing the situation on the ground and establishing contacts.

I would urge everyone to do what they can to assist the Burmese people.

I have copy below a couple of messages from my friend in Rangoon and some pictures he has forwarded today.

From: Nyi
Sent: Wednesday, 7 May 2008 10:04 PM
Subject: Greeting from Nyi/Burma

Dear Friends,

The storm called Nargit passed across Yangon in the speed of 100 to 120 mile per hour on 2nd May midnight till 3rd May 10 am. All big trees blown down, all the roof were blown off, everything was destroyed by wind .Luckily people are safe in Yangon .

The main problem in Yangon is we have no water and no light . We received very little amount of water from water supply system. All power line are fallen down during the storm. So there will not be electric power within 20 to 30 days. We are using our own generator (if we can buy). Very few (almost nothing) aids are provided by government.

Today public buses and circular trains start operating in Yangon. 65% turn to normalcy.

Apart from this we are OK. For me, my house is partly damaged by tree fallen on to my house but we are safe. 6 sheets of my roof is GONE WITH THE WIND !

This is all for now.
Nyi
----------------------------

From: Nyi
Sent: Thursday, May 08, 2008 3:33 PM
Subject: Re: FW: Greeting from Nyi/Burma

Dear Margaret,

Thanks for your reply. What we need is electricity and water supply but I don't think anybody can send them in the baggage. Thanks for your offer.

Please let us know when your boss get Myanmar visa then I can say something I need. Mean time hard to say. Corrigated Roof are also needed for most people. Power Generator as well.

Thank you.
Nyi & Family
--------------------------

From: Nyi
Sent: Sun 11/05/2008 11:43 PM
Subject: Thanks for Money.

Dear Margaret,

I received money from Liz today I had nice conversation with her. She promised to contribute some more money to my little project to help poor victims.

With the money I bought 16 sacks of rice and 185 package of candles.

I can share and distribute them to 185 families tomorrow.

Detail with photos to be sent tomorrow

Nyi

I've visited Burma twice on holidays in recent years.

As recently as January this year.

This Nyi guy has travelled the country with me all times as guide, and he is quite superb.

An incredibly well educated and gentle guy, who speaks absolutely perfect English.

Been a Buddhist monk 3 times as I recall, and is very devout and caring - he was always giving those less fortunate some of his money etc for food as we travelled around. That is the Buddhist way.

Right now folks there need help and they need it FAST.

Politicians huffing and puffing about it in Washington etc, will not feed anyone, nor give them light, food, or basic shelter - anytime soon.

Yes the government there is to blame for the lack of action, and yes if we all wait for them to do something the death toil will get to 1,500,000 once disease and hunger and cholera etc spreads. That is fact.

Margo and I have sent money across already, and if anyone here wants to assist we can add your contribution to it.

Unlike most of the Western charities, where a $100 donation gets chewed up more than 60% by their bloated bureaucracies etc, in this case a $US25 donation buys a $US25 large sack of rice or a large bucket of candles (there will be no power for months in some areas) or rolls of heavy guage plastic protective sheeting, that can be used as waterproof shelters, as the current heavy downpour continues.

Anyone who wants to paypal a donation of any kind can do so to me at glen at glenstephens.com and I'll pass it on, (any currency, and any amount is fine and appreciated by them I am sure) or do a bank transfer to me - Westpac Northbridge - NSW in name Glen Stephens - BSB is 032199 - Account - 824096

In both cases simply call it BURMA AID so I can identify it

Margo has a Sydney workmate up there now with strong local community connections, and is in Burma each year. She flew up a couple of days ago to hands-on assist however she can. I can just get her to add whatever we might raise, to the amount she passes on, and reimburse her when she returns.

Nyi is with her at this time, and they are both on the ground doing something positive - see the photos above.

Yes, we are a tiny drop in the ocean, but it we make the life of just 500 folks better and safer, and healthier, I'll sleep much better at night. Already 180 families have been helped by our donations.

The Burmese people are wonderful and kind and gentle from my personal observation, and hopefully we can assist them a tiny bit here - their nasty government and this cyclone is not of their making.

Glen

The problem right now is that people need these basics NOW and not in a fortnight's time.

The problem is sourcing what folks actually need right here and now, and getting them to them.

The price of basic staples and essentials has of course escalated wildly based on supply and demand.

So far 185 families have been positively assisted by the monies we have sent.

This Nyi is an experienced tour guide who travels the country all year. He knows where the stuff is, how to get it at the best price, and how to get it transported to where it is needed.

Remember the transport system is in chaos, in areas many roads are gone, and the price of gas has gone through the roof there.

Ordinarily I'd be cautious of using stampboards for any kind of charity or disaster type deal, as usually no-one has a clue where the funds will go and exactly how they will be used. In this case both those questions are answered, and I hope it gets some support from members.
.

OK ... here is something that may appeal to collectors.

In January this year we were on a long tail hand made wooden boat on the huge Inle Lake in the remote North East of Burma - in Shan State.

My stamp collector friend Peter Lehmann (above) was with us, and Nyi pointed out this rickety building on stilts in the water and told is it was in actuality a POST OFFICE! The ONLY access to it is by long boat.

The "PO" was a small wooden school desk. Manned by a guy and his wife and very young son also seemed to live there. The Burmese normal stamps do not have even a word of English on them as you can see - and no gum .... the little saucer of "glue" the PM makes up himself from lumpy sago and water.

Anyway it was the most exotic post office we had ever seen and mailed a few items from there.

I can guarantee that postmaster had never had a tourist in that PO in his lifetime.

I am going to make a promise here (that he does not know about!) that I feel sure Nyi will be try very hard to keep when things finally settle down. For anyone who donates $US25 or above to the BURMA FUND he'll mail you one of these covers as shown above. In fact for each $US25 he will mail one. Each with different stamps on them.

Franked with the real LOCAL stamps - not the flashy topical ones produced for the stamp New Issue market. He will hand address them to you anywhere in the world, affix stamp with a dollop of sago glue, and mail them from this very PO. And hand cancel them like the one above.

A really unusual philatelic souvenir from Burma as a small "Thank You" for those able to assist.

Sadly the catastrophe here is not being reported too widely in UK or USA media as they have taken hard line sanctions action against the regime in the past. The REAL story is that 1,500,000 may die:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7396465.stm

http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM ... hJpApgT3-Q

And as of 11 hours ago:

"Storm warnings have been issued to last until May 15. It is feared that a month's worth of rain could fall in just two days.

"The storms are not expected to be on the same scale as the cyclone, but it's going to make bad conditions 100 times worse.

"People already displaced by the previous cyclone are going to be left without any shelter."

She said that up to 5,000 square kilometers of the country still lay under water"

Glen,

A very worthy cause, donation set by paypal.

regards,

David

And finally - most folks have a little network of friends or work colleagues and family etc to circulate emails to.

Please circulate the link to this thread below to as many folks as you can - which is:

http://www.stampboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=6174

And in turn ask them to pass it on to their email list.

No-one needs to be a StampBoards.com member to assist the relief work.

I think we can provide food and comfort to another 200-500 households in the next few days if we all help in passing this appeal around.

I never thought when I started up stampboards we'd be involved in this kind of thing, but c'est la vie.

Donating to a huge fund who may ship goods the generals confiscate at the airport, and sell on the black market is totally abhorrent to me.

The Burma Generals are simply NOT allowing any foreign aid workers in to distribute the aid.

This way every dollar donated will go on food and water and essential aid - and fast - to those who desperately need it.

Add a note to this thread if you are able to donate in some way, and we'll get a conga line of sorts going here!

Glen Stephens
.

A few $$ sent your way, Glen.

This sort of people-to-people relief, assistance, diplomacy, or whatever you want to call it, is something very near and dear to me. It absolutely does work and a little can and does go a long way.

Thanks for the generous PayPal donations folks - Northern Ireland and Slovenia are a great start, and shows perfectly the type of international support I hope we will keep getting for this.

And neither was "modest" either, so many thanks.

For those members, and all other future donating members of $25 or more - who'd like me to ask Nyi to mail you a real posted cover from the world's only Post Office on stilts in a lake I'd guess, please do me a huge favor and email your postal address to:

stampboards at gmail.com that I just set up.

That way I'll have a record all in one mailbox as to who wants the covers outlined above, and how many they want. You get one cover per $US25 (or equiv) donated, and YOU specify the name and address it/they is to go to in that email.

Glen

Glen,

Money transferred to your account this morning, will show up tomorrow.

Sent via Paypal

Already sent a contribution to The Red Cross Myanmar Appeal (they get urgently needed medical aid to the front lines really fast).

Because they are not aligned to one particular country or group of countries, they have total access and were among the first aid workers to help in the worst hit areas.

Please see this Red Cross site:

http://www.redcross.org.au/ourservices_aroundtheworld_emergencyrelief_MyanmarCycloneNargis.htm

Greetings Glen,

Just sent our donation of $US25.00 via PayPal.

A good idea of yours and put our amount up a bit.

I'll have to go over the posts again to establish how I put our address on.

Cheers,
Kev.

Thanks to all the members above for their very generous support.

Londonbus's from Israel's superb idea above, to run a 48 hour charity auction of stamp goodies already has bids from our generous members for $US250 with 40 hours to go.

Total proceeds of that auction will go to this fund. Please support it.

I initially hoped we might be able to raise at least $US1000 in donations from members, after seeing Margo's thread here, and it appears we are already about half way there. A great tribute to our generous members.

That sum will assist HUNDREDS of families get food lighting and shelter from the ongoing torrential rain, and get them all NOW today, and right now they are lacking all three.
.

And many thanks to those members like Kev above who have taken up the suggestion to circulate this fundraiser to their email network or friends and associates, and in turn asked them to pass it on to theirs. The link to this thread is:

http://www.stampboards.com/viewtopic.php?p=270323

These things do spread fast if that is done, and it really gets a lot of donation support in a SHORT time, and that is what the Burmese people want right now. IMMEDIATE help with food, lighting and shelter.

We may only be a drop in the bucket, but if stampboarders can assist a few 100 families we have done something VERY positive. Which is more than several huge countries have done so far.

We already have directly helped 180 families who had NOTHING after this cyclone, and even that is a great first step.

They need our help and they need it now.
.

Hi all

I can only reiterate all the positive things about the burmese people.I visited burma over 20 years ago and the people are beautifull. The ruling army junta will not get it together to help anyone but themselves.

Anyone filling in one of their forms re currency will know they have all the worst traits of beaucracy.

Anyhow having teenagers and a mortage I havent any spare cash but as Glen uses decimal stamps Ive wacked an envelope marked burma donation in the mail with a few bucks worth of decimal stamps and trust when it arrives Glen will forward the same value to these poor folk.

Also thanks for providing a means to assist all be it modest
cheers

aq
AMQ

And folks PLEASE note the above. Email me those details and they will be all in one place to forward to Nyi when things settle back to some kind of normalcy there. A lack of an email to that address, and I'll assume you do not need these covers.
.

I have sent a small donation to Glen also. I don't have paypal, so I used my Visa details. .

Norm

Thanks Norm. Yes for anyone overseas who does not have paypal, I am happy to accept donations using your credit card, and I will of course wear any bank charges.

To use cards simply complete - www.glenstephens.com/order - calling it "BURMA FUND"

PayPal is far quickest of course, and keeps it neatly in $US, and bank transfer for ozzies is quicker still, as I take ages to process cards, as I use a paper based system.

But keep it coming folks - the more the merrier. It is a superb cause.

I will email all members on this in the next hour, and lets see the target get to $2,000 if we can.

We on stampboards can do what several governments cannot.

Glen

Glen.

I just sent you 50.00 us dollars.

Great cause.

Glen,

Money is on its way to your bank. I like many others have not yet donated because, having watched the news and been frustrated at the unwillingness of the Burmese leaders to open their borders and accept the help of the international community, I felt that any donation made would not actually help the Burmese people, however, this sounds like a perfect plan where there is already somebody on the ground, so I'm only too willing to contribute.

Peter

Here are the latest pictures sent by Nyi today of his relief efforts which we are contributing to:







Also an update from my Australian friend on the ground sent today:
...
Rangoon is slowly returning to 'normal', other than in the outskirts. The city is almost unrecognisable from the storm damage, with giant trees having collapsed and completely changing the landscape. Some houses are reasonably solid, and have suffered damage largely to roofs, and there's lots of banging as people try to replace sheets of corrugated iron. But of course the iron sheets are becoming scarce, and it rains very heavily each day (tho' not all day) so everything continues to be drenched.

Most people don't seem aware of the catastrophic conditions in the delta.

Rice (the staple food) prices are astronomical, and the poor simply can't afford to purchase enough to feed themselves and their families. And they have no jobs, as so much business has come to a halt (factories etc). Rice is becoming very scarce, and the World Food Program warehouse is empty. People are starving. It's all totally chaotic, with absolutely no signs of any organised response.

Tomorrow am off to the South side of the Rangoon river, which is a very poor area, and much devastated by Nargis

I have just added a little more to the fund via your account, Glen. Have also sent email re covers.

Best wishes for reaching the target and helping people in such desperate need


Jill

Hi Glen,

Some extra money sent to your account for this worthy cause.

Rabbit

Many thanks to the many Stampboards members who are supporting this effort so generously both publically and privately.

I will pass on all information we get directly from Burma and let Nyi know that more help is on its way.

Margo

My main concern is to get money to Nyi FAST before rice prices rise even further. See Margo's colleagues comments above, who is on the ground in Rangoon.

Thanks to all the rapid generosity of stampboarders, I transferred $US1000 tonight to Nyi and urged him to buy sacks of rice NOW, before prices inflate even more now the foreign aid agencies are also chasing it actively.

I hope to send another $US1,000 in coming days.

Our first donation from Margo and I and a few others helped 185 families, as Nyi reports:

"This morning I distributed rice and candles to 185 families around my area. Each family received 7 candles and 4 kg of rice. Thank you very much for your donation."

Now 4 kilos of rice and 7 candles is not even torching the sides for any family, so hope he can re-visit those same homes tomorrow.

Look around you in your home, and think how you'd feel if you needed to rely on charity for seven candles and a bowl of rice to eat.

Sometimes we do not realise how lucky we are.

Please keep those donations coming in.

Glen
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A client who is a member, bought the block 4 off my rarity page for $A300. I had not posted it, so he directed me to sell it here and donate all proceeds to the Burma fund.

He does not want to be named - but thanks to him for his huge generosity.

The other pair I was to rip off for stock, so I will toss that in as my donation.

Fresh MUH. You are buying this spectacular margin block of 6 as shown.

Price only $A500 post included, Registered.

Fresh MUH, and one of the best post office sold misplaced perfs issued since Federation. Very seldom seen, and a most striking and inexpensive addition to a Royalty or Australian collection. Fully ACSC listed and priced. This $500 is about real market price. Order it here -

viewtopic.php?t=6202
.

For those members above, and all other future donating members of $US25 or more - who'd like me to ask Nyi to mail you a real posted cover from the world's only Post Office on stilts in a lake I'd guess, please do me a huge favor and email your name postal address (and do not assume he can mind-read your COUNTRY .. add that clearly in the info you forward) to:

stampboards [at] gmail.com that I just set up.

That way we will have a record all in one mailbox as to who wants the covers outlined above, and how many they want. Again YOU specify that. You get one cover per $US25 (or equiv) donated, and YOU specify the name and address it/they is to go to in that email. YOU are responible for doing this - if you do not email to that account he will never see it. Do NOT email your mailing address to me.

That email address differs from the PayPal address to send monies to, which is glen [at] glenstephens.com

PLEASE note the difference in the two, as 3 folks today have not.

Glen

Glen

$25 sent- I've used your website as I've closed my Paypal account in protest at the paypal only policy (who'd have thought I'd need paypal!)

Simon

Glen

I also do not have paypal so processed a donation through VISA.

Regards

Here is my offer of help:

I have a stockpile 100kg of TOTALLY UNPICKED very recent/modern Australia mission mix, which includes High Values/Unfranked etc.

Price is $45 per kg, plus postage, and I will take back any unfranked or fine used High Value commems. you find, AND WANT TO TRADE BACK at 25% face value in exchange for more mix, as long as it is left on paper. (I will then use that to add to other mixes to make an even better mix for some lucky people)

I will donate the entire $45 per kg sold directly to Glen's Burma fund.

Let's see if we can sell the lot and send $4500 to Burma.

Send your orders to me:

kmorgan@centurynova.com.au

All major cards including Diners and Amex accepted, plus Paypal
payments can be made to info@21stcenturyauctions.com.au