Inside the duffel bags and boxes, went radios and headlamps.
“So your hands are free while you’re working at night,” says Benyapa Becks’ husband, Gary.
Plus tarps for rain protection, mosquito nets, and tents.
They’re all basic supplies for Benyapa Becks to use when she meets up with a team of Thai volunteers in Bangkok, and heads across the border into Myanmar.
“Because I have [a] Thai passport,” she explains. Her husband Gary chimes in, “And Burma has not opened up the borders yet to relief workers internationally.”
Benyapa Becks met Gary while he was volunteering after the 2004 tsunami. He is the president of Rescue Task Force, a San Diego based relief organization that has donated time, supplies, and countless volunteer hours to victims in Honduras, Peru, Cambodia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and New Orleans.
Since the cyclone struck Myanmar this weekend, Benyapa Becks has prepared to go back alone as a scout for Rescue Task Force, and Carlsbad based World Emergency Relief.
“[I] want to buy some supplies,” says Becks. “You know, and help people over there.” She has spent the last few days communicating with friends and family in Thailand and Myanmar.
“Almost all of the hospitals are out of commission,” says Andrea MacLeod, of World Emergency Relief. “Either the roofs have been blown off, or the power is off, or they’re destroyed altogether.”
So Becks will see what the people need most, and work with World Emergency Relief to get it to them.
“We have a lot of supplies on hold right now. Like food or medicines,” explains MacLeod. She says there are incredible restrictions on countries trying to bring aid into Myanmar.
Becks will coordinate with the local government to help bring in large freight containers of essential items.
“If you have a huge container of all the medical supplies,” explains MacLeod, but only have one person with a rickety pickup truck, the distribution becomes a difficult issue.”
Because of the difficulty in transporting large quantities of goods, Becks will buy many items in neighboring countries, and provide for shipment into Myanmar.
“Plastic sheeting for houses, hammers, and nails, and shoes, and hygiene items,” says Gary Becks. “But we also buy toys. Soccer balls, heart medicine. It's just good for the heart.”
Becks’ ticket to Bangkok cost over $1600, and her ability to provide essential supplies is funded almost entirely through donations. For information on helping the victims of Cyclone Nargis, contact the Rescue Task Force, or World Emergency Relief. |
