Nargis Library Recovery

NARGIS LIBRARY RECOVERY NEWSLETTER #13 MARCH 2010

My last newsletter described the global context within which our library recovery effort is sustained. This month I want to delve more deeply into our book distribution. While our project is directed to library recovery in the Irrawaddy Delta, librarians in other parts of the country have appealed for help. When feasible, we have responded. I asked Dr. Thant Thaw Kaung, director of our partner NGO, Myanmar Book Aid and Preservation Foundation, to gather data on our book distribution. His file is attached to this newsletter.

Highlights of the attached MBAPF report:

1] Our books have reached 80 libraries with circulation responsibilities for many others in seven Divisions: Yangon, Irrawaddy, Bago, Magway, Mandalay, Shan, and Rakhine.

2] Of the 150,000  books sorted as of January, 47,000 were sold at charity book fairs in Yangon and Mandalay, which raised 45 million kyats, over half used to buy 30,000 new Burmese language texts distributed along with 103,000 English language books. These are mainly children’s or adolescent readers. Another container of childrens books will reach Yangon around March 10th, also donated by Thrift Books from their Dallas, Texas warehouse.

3] We also contributed 15 million kyats to three private libraries, enabling them to rent more space & operate most of each week: Information Cooperation and Education [ICE]-Youth opened a second branch in Latha township of Yangon, Knowledge Bank Library opened in the heart of Yangon on the Anawratha Road, and Kanbawza Youth  Library expanded its mobile offerings to 15 village libraries in the Shan States.

4] Delta village and town libraries are mostly in Irrawaddy and Yangon Divisions, where we operate through library boards still functioning after the cyclone. Many people were killed in the storm, so local leaders need to recruit new boards and committees to rebuild destroyed libraries. This is a significant challenge requiring far more funds than we currently have. Our proposals are under consideration by private and public organizations, if successful, we can move forward with this vital phase in our project.

We have 800,000  books waiting in warehouses around the U.S. to be packed and shipped in 16 containers, one every other month by 2012. This remains our main task. But we need additional funding to insure this process continues as planned. American Presidents Lines contributed berths for six containers, for which we are deeply grateful; however the company was recently bought out by a Singapore corporation which has not yet indicated interest in extending this charitable act. We will continue landing books in the MBAPF container-warehouse at 10 cents each even if APL does not extend their donation, but we must raise $80,000 to reach our goal. Your individual contributions have made this project possible, please continue to support it.Summary of donated books

I admire Prospect Burma’s semi-annual newsletter produced through the good offices of Patricia Herbert; likewise, Derek Tonkin’s Myannar Network enhances readers’ knowledge of policies effecting all Burmese; finally, Online Burma/Myanmar Library published by Michael Carney is a fine resource for anyone interesting in current research and publications. Bookmarks for the three publications:

1] Prospect Burma provides scholarships to needy Burmese students & posts its periodic reports online as pdfs. These can be downloaded here.

2] Check the “What’s New” section of the Online Burma/Myanmar Library regularly for updates on Burma/Myanmar-related materials on the web as well as “Notice Board”
The Burma Research List is an independent e-list established in 1998 with a membership of over 500 researchers (2010) on Burma.

3] Network Myanmar was set up in the summer of 2007 to assist the process of reconciliation and rehabilitation in a country which has suffered so grievously ever since it gained its independence from Britain on 4 January 1948.

NARGIS LIBRARY RECOVERY NEWSLETTER #12 FEBRUARY 2010

This posting is shadowed by Haiti’s catastrophe and Afghanistan’s appalling devastation. Total collapse of civil order in Port of Prince and rebounding Taliban influence in many Afghan provinces has replaced Nargis Recovery as a priority among foreign donors. To maintain traction in assisting Delta communities we must hold to our mission and expand our efforts. New donors are essential.

Contrast the three societies—Myanmar, Haiti and Afghanistan—each suffers from decades of civil strife & dysfunctional economies; each society is torn by corruption and misappropriation of public funds, pitiful tax bases, and histories of abusive governance. However Myanmar has abundant natural resources, a long history of private [monastic] education, and a society rebounding from Cyclone Nargis. Much remains to be done, but our project is feasible in Myanmar because of its unique educational tradition associated with local libraries. In most Third World countries libraries are not players in recovery; in Myanmar their role is not only feasible, it is essential if most citizens are to access knowledge to expand freedom and productivity. Libraries, like a free press, are more than a crutch, they are escalators to modernity.

Compare what you know of the Burmese experience after the Nargis catastrophe to Afghanistan’s. Listen to Professor Zaher Wahab’s assessment this week on the American Friends Service Committee’s website:

http://www.afsc.org/middleeast/ht/display/ContentDetails/i/85980

Comparable assessments from Haiti reveal huge challenges to that struggling nation. While billions of investment dollars are needed in all three countries to sustain economic growth; Myanmar can leverage significant improvements with far less. Its expanding private sector is creating social space via family entrepreneurs seeking more productive enterprises. Burma’s libraries, with our support, can provide access to the knowledge essential to economic growth.

Professor U Myint–fellow graduate student at Cornell and Berkeley in the 1950s– retired a decade ago as ECAFE economist and now resides in Yangon. He continues to write astute critiques of Burma’s economy and recently helped organize Nobel Laureate Joseph Stieglitz’s visit and presentation to Nay Pyi Daw officials. The last four paragraphs of Myint’s critique of Stiglitz’s presentation are relevant to our project.

73.         Nargis and global crisis were mentioned as disasters that hit Myanmar which were beyond its control. When these natural and economic disasters strike, it is always the poor and livelihoods in the rural economy that are hit the hardest. However, the resilience of the rural economy can be strengthened to better withstand these misfortunes through creating non-farm employment opportunities. For example, a farm household or a village that not only grows rice but engages in other economic activities has better chance of coming to terms with these disastrous events. Non-farm activities in the countryside can take place by setting up small enterprises in processing, construction, transport, repair, catering, and other services. In China these towns and village enterprises played a vital role in the agricultural reform process, by creating jobs for millions of people and increasing rural incomes and output. With climate change brought on by global warming Myanmar like other countries will have to face more frequent and more violent natural disasters than before. Similarly, increased globalization will bring with it greater impact of economic disturbances originating outside its borders. Hence, there is a clear need to strengthen the resilience of the rural sector by promoting non-farm employment opportunities.

74.         Since we are now living in a knowledge based economy, the importance of education and technology revolution that is upon us received considerable emphasis. With young and able bodied people leaving to take up better paying jobs in neighboring countries only old people and young children are left in the villages and farmers in some parts of the country are facing a labor shortage. There may thus be a growing need to mechanize farming and to use less labor intensive methods in agricultural production.

75.         We are also said to be living in the information age. For ordinary people two things are important in this age: access to internet and mobile phone. Here again, our situation is far less favorable than in neighboring countries. For instance in terms of percentage of population that has access to the internet in the Asian region, Myanmar with (0.2 %) shares bottom place with East Timor. The percentages for neighbors are as follows: Laos (1.9%), India (7.0%), Thailand (24.4%), Vietnam (24.8%), China (26.9%), Malaysia (65.7%) and Singapore (72.4%).

76.         As for mobile phone let me give you my personal experience. The supplier is a government monopoly and I had to fill an application form to buy a phone. I applied for one some time ago. My application was approved after 3 years. Then I paid 1.5 million kyats to purchase the SIM card. That is equivalent to 6 months pay of the highest government official. Now under a new rule announced recently my monthly phone bill is estimated and I have to pay in three times that amount as advance payment for use of the phone. In poor neighboring countries such as Cambodia and Laos, fierce competition among local manufacturers and sellers has brought down mobile phones prices to hit rock bottom and you can buy one for a few dollars. And everyone seems to be carrying one.

But not in Myanmar…not yet…Nargis Library Recovery will hasten that process.