SANNI News
Dear Friends of SANNI Foundation
I have spent the last week with Dr. Frank Smithuis and Dr. Ni Ni Tun, our partners in Myanmar since 2013 and directors of Medical Action Myanmar (MAM). We discussed the current dual crisis of a pandemic and political crisis and how we will continue all our operations. Shockingly, MAM and SANNI are some of the few remaining organisations still working in Myanmar to support the impoverished and vulnerable.
Not only have many organisations left, but most hospitals have closed with the majority of the medical work force on strike against the military government. Impressively, since their founding in 2009, MAM has created 12 clinics across the country (including SANNI’s Lotus Clinic) with over 1,200 staff all dedicated to treating the poorest people. In 2019 they conducted over 1,000,000 consultations; it is a massive operation!
Dr. NiNi and Dr. Frank get most of their funding from major institutions like the UN and WHO but rely on organisations like SANNI to do specific special projects. The child sponsorship program and the Motherhouse would not be possible without SANNI. Our ability to work quickly, be flexible and respond directly to the current situation on the ground is a vital asset for MAM.
We are privileged to have two partners like Dr. Frank and Dr. Ni Ni who are so talented and dedicated. They created a country-wide health infrastructure with the means to do extraordinary work, saving tens of thousands of lives every year.
Thank you very much for your support!
Kind Regards,
Susanne Schroff
Meeting with Susanne, Dr. Frank and Dr. Ni Ni
Saving lives in Myanmar
Doctor examination of a Covid patient in an MAM Covid facility
MAM were the quickest to react to the Covid-19 outbreak and within 3 months created 16 emergency sites with over 800 beds to treat as many patients as possible. Thousands of lives were saved because of their quick reaction and absolute commitment to do everything they could – this meant working relentlessly 24/7 under very difficult conditions.
The coup in Myanmar has left most hospitals closed or running very limited services. The poor are suffering even more and have little to no chance of ever seeing a doctor. Without MAM, Covid-19 would have been an even deadlier catastrophe.
SANNI fundraised to help create the Covid-19 emergency sites as well as providing food and financial support to over 2,300 households who lost their jobs during the pandemic. But we must not forget, the health crisis continues beyond Covid-19 and we must be prepared to continue supporting MAM’s clinics. We have already created and continue to fund the Lotus clinic, but there are no limits to how much more we can do to continue providing life-saving health care to the most impoverished and vulnerable people in Myanmar.
Thank you letters written by Covid patiens to their MAM doctors
From sponsorship to independence!
Chit Moe, one of the children now able to safely leave our program and live an independent life with her mother
The children on our sponsorship program are enrolled because they are very serious cases of poverty, often severely unwell or malnourished and unable to attend school. Sponsorships keep children healthy and educated, but we also focus on developing their self-sufficiency in order to break the cycle of inherited poverty.
We do this through vocational training, education and financial development programs. But we also help sponsored children’s caregivers and develop their employability so they can support their family without us. Last month, we saw 4 children able to safely leave our program in Myanmar because we helped their mothers secure well played jobs, with promise of job progression. Now, they can support the children themselves and we can pass those sponsorships onto more needy children. More than 250 children have already left our program independent and excited for a new life!
Help change a life
For less than 1CHF/EUR a day, you can sponsor a child in Myanmar and join our mission. A sponsorship – or a one time payment in our children’s fond – provides a child living in poverty with nutritional, educational, household and hygiene support as well as special tuition and vocational training when they’re older.
https://sanni-foundation.com/en/projects/saving-children/
