The world of Tzu Chi July 2020 (Vol.124)

Extending Care to Impoverished Families The regional government of Yangon, Myanmar had imposed a curfew and partial lockdowns in several townships in an effort to curb the spread of Covid-19. As a consequence, the livelihoods of many villagers were threatened with food rations running low. Therefore, the Tzu Chi Myanmar Liaison Office initiated an emergency mission to distribute essential supplies to impoverished households from May 7, 2020 onwards. In the township of Thanlyin, a 19-year-old mother, whose husband works as a fisherman, lives with her child as well as her father-in-law, who is afflicted with heart complications, and her mother-in-law, who suffers from cataracts. Due to prolonged malnutrition, the young mother is unable to breastfeed her five-month-old child. She resorted to feeding her child condensed milk – one bottle of condensed milk is supposed to last the child over three days. On May 12, 2020, volunteers visited the young mother and her family, bringing along milk powder for the child and demonstrating how to prepare infant formula for feeding. [Photograph by Nay Thura]