SEOUL (UCAN): Catholics in South Korea contributed donations for emergency relief for Myanmar and India, both of which are reeling from the Covid-19 coronavirus [SARS-CoV-2] pandemic.
Relief funding includes 80 million won (around $543,600) for India and 50 million won ($333,960) for Myanmar, which will be delivered to Caritas India and Caritas Myanmar through Caritas Korea, according to The Catholic Times of Korea.
The money was raised through a programme led by Bishop Benedictus Son Hee-song, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Seoul.
The funds will cover treatment, medical support and awareness-raising projects, targeting 50,000 people to receive treatment in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra states in India.
The help from the Church in South Korea comes as the country faces a dire situation as the Delta variant of the coronavirus, which originated in India, takes its toll. More than 520 priests and nuns died of Covid-19 from April to mid-June.
In Myanmar, people are facing a humanitarian crisis after fighting continues between the military and civil resistance groups following the coup five months ago [Sunday Examiner, February 7].
In Kayah state, a Catholic stronghold in eastern Myanmar, funds from South Korea will provide essential medicines and equipment to medical teams, nursing assistants and volunteers from Karuna Clinic and St. Raphael Clinic in Loikaw, the state capital.
The funds will cover treatment, medical support and awareness-raising projects, targeting 50,000 people to receive treatment in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra states in India
Myanmar has also seen Covid-19 cases surging on a daily basis along with a rising death toll, bringing total infections to 171,976 and deaths to 3,513.
Funds will be disbursed through Caritas (Karuna) Myanmar, which has played a vital role in providing humanitarian assistance to thousands of displaced persons in Kayah, Chin and Kachin states—predominantly Christian areas.
Babo’s Sharing allocates 150 million won [around $1.01 million] each year to an emergency relief fund for domestic and foreign problems while Fool’s Sharing has supported emergency relief funds that provided assistance during the Pohang earthquake in 2017 and a forest fire in Gangwon in 2019, according to The Catholic Times of Korea.
In June, the Archdiocese of Seoul raised US$1 million in donations in response to the Vatican’s appeal for a global vaccine-sharing program, especially for poor countries.
Andrew Cardinal Yeom Soo-jung of Seoul, who expressed solidarity with the people of Myanmar, also promised an emergency fund of US$50,000 for Myanmar in March.
The Korean Church’s gesture comes as the country also battles a fourth wave of the pandemic fuelled by the highly contagious Delta variant after registering 1,200 new cases on July 7, the highest since December when it reported 1,250 cases.
According to the latest data, South Korea has reported 162,753 cases and 2,033 deaths from the contagion.
