Mary’s Meals began working in Burma in 2008 offering help to orphaned and abandoned children in the Kachin State and Yangon areas.

School Feeding
Burma’s population is ethnically diverse and includes; Burman, Shan, Karen, Rakhine, Chinese, Indian and Mon peoples.  The majority (89%) are Buddhists.  As it is ruled by a military junta that is usually resistant to outside help, Burma is a difficult country for charities to work in.  Thanks to the dedication of our partners we have been able to support a soup kitchen located in a Buddhist temple where the monks run a school for around 200 children. 

The school serves a slum area of Yangon and the monks had been growing increasingly concerned about the number of malnourished children they were seeing.  Mary’s Meals has assisted with the building and equipping of a simple kitchen and ensures the children get a nutritious meal each school day. 

BOSNIA FACTS AND FIGURES
Population - 3.8 million
% population that is undernourished - 8
% population living below poverty line - 25
Infant Mortality Rate per 1000 live birth - 9.10
Adult Illiteracy Rate - 1
Primary Enrolment % - 90.5

Bosnia-Herzegovina is in South-eastern Europe, bordering the Adriatic Sea and Croatia. The country declared independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1992. This led to a devastating civil conflict.  A peace agreement means the country is currently under international administration.  The war displaced around 2 million people and left the country’s infrastructure and economy in ruins.

BURMA FACTS AND FIGURES
Population - 50 million
% population that is undernourished - 6
% population living below poverty line - 32.7
Infant Mortality Rate per 1000 live birth - 47.61
Primary Enrolment % - 84
Survival to last grade of Primary of those enrolled % 72

Burma is in south-eastern Asia, bordering the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Bangladesh and Thailand.  Burma (also known as Myanmar) is ruled by a military junta.  It has suppressed political opposition and crushed public protests.  Military offensives displace thousands of civilians and large numbers try to escape into neighbouring Thailand.  Many do not get further than the refugee camps along the Burma-Thai border.  Some get through to live illegally as migrant workers.