Our Mission

The Foundation’s mission is to provide humanitarian aid, primarily in health and education, to all people of Myanmar. The Foundation seeks to advance this mission by:

  • Acting as a catalyst for self-sustaining programs;
  • Emphasizing direct or local support and/or partnerships with, or grants to, organizations with minimal administrative cost structures;
  • Not considering political, economic, or religious interests in assessing the people’s needs; and
  • Identifying and concentrating on needs and projects that have historically not been the focus of other charities and organizations.

The Foundation prefers to provide seed money for programs with a clearly articulated plan for continuing its mission without indefinite financial support from the Foundation. Where possible, the Foundation directly supports international community-based organizations or U.S.-based organizations with a demonstrated low, administrative expense structure. Reflecting its focus on humanitarian needs, past grants from the Foundation have been provided to diverse ethnic groups of Burma without regard to religious or political beliefs. The Foundation also believes that it can be most effective in areas overlooked by others, so it is especially interested in exploring programs and projects not ordinarily supported by larger non-governmental organizations. To that end, the Foundation has supported projects, including the following:

  • Construction and operation of the B.K. Kee Clinic, a community clinic, in South Dagon, Yangon.
  • Construction of a school for elementary age children in a lower income village inside Burma and provision of funds for the operation of such school.
  • Construction of a library for school children in a remote, rural village in Burma.
  • Operational support for fifty schools serving Burmese refugee children on the Thai/Burma border.
  • Teacher subsidies to over 4,600 teachers in Karen State in over 1,100 schools with over 102,000 elementary and secondary students.
  • Mobile health clinics serving approximately 29,500 people, including more than 5,300 families.
  • Reproductive health services project benefitting an estimated population of 60,000 people, including an estimated 12,000 women of childbearing age and 2,400 pregnancies a year.
  • Malaria control programs, employing early diagnosis and treatment, vector control and education, encompassing more than 20,000 people in Kachin State in Northern Burma, Karen State in Eastern Burma and near Mandalay in Central Burma.
  • Orphanages and monastery schools for over 4,000 young, economically disadvantaged students, including support for enrichment programs such as art and music.
  • Scholarships for promising scholars from Burma for undergraduate and graduate studies outside of Burma.
  • Scholarships for over 300 students on the Burma/India border to attend elementary, middle and high schools and universities and scholarships for girls from Burma to attend school in New Delhi, India.
  • Funding for curriculum development and publications in Karen and Burmese.
  • Emergency funding for malaria medication, vitamin A and de-worming medicine.
  • Resettlement efforts for Burmese refugees in the United States.
  • Funding for an income generation program near Yangon to fund a child care center serving poor children.
  • Training programs for teachers and care providers for pre-school orphanages in Burma.
  • Grant for capacity building initiatives for community-based programs in Burma.
  • Hepatitis B Vaccination program for Hep B positive mothers to stop vertical transmission

The Foundation has made grants to various organizations, including the following:

  • Brackett Foundation
  • Burma Border Projects
  • Burma Children Medical Fund
  • Burma Medical Association
  • Burmese Christian Community Church
  • Burmese Women's Union
  • BusinessKind
  • Carleton College (for a school in Yangon, Myanmar)
  • Cetana Educational Foundation
  • Community Partners International
  • Drum Publication Group
  • Eastern Burma Schooling Project
  • Good Sleep Myanmar
  • Growing Together
  • IDE Myanmar (now Proximity Designs)
  • International Development Enterprises (IDE) Myanmar (now Proximity Designs)
  • Karen Teachers Working Group/Karen State Education Assistance Group
  • Karen Women’s Organization
  • Karenni Civil Health and Development Network
  • Mae Tao Clinic
  • Medical Action Myanmar
  • Mon National Education Committee
  • Myanmar Foundation for Analytic Education
  • Oakland Burmese Mission Baptist Church
  • Pacific Health Foundation
  • Paung Ku Initiative (through Save the Children Myanmar)
  • Pre-Collegiate Program and Lumbini Academy in Yangon
  • The Save the Children Fund (for Myanmar)
  • Thabyay Education Foundation
  • Thirst Aid
  • Yinthway Foundation
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