Myanmar, a forward from Vinny

This was forwarded to me from Vinny.
To offer support, one place to go is: http://www.google.com/myanmarcyclone/

Hello Dear Ones,

As you may or may not have heard on the news, a cyclone tore through Myanmar this past weekend, leaving tens of thousands of people dead and hundreds of thousands of people homeless.

A close friend of mine teaches at a school in Myanmar. Thankfully, she and her husband are safe. A representative of her school recently sent out an email which I am compelled to share with you today.

The situation remains dire for many people but I have hope that the people in Myanmar will recover from this horrible disaster and ask that you please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

With love,
Vinny



---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Julia Mims
Date: Wed, May 7, 2008 at 1:55 PM
Subject: Fw: A message from Melanie Von Spreecken


This is the e-mail that Roger Hove just sent me updating us on the conditions in Myanmar for Anna and Jared. After you read it you will understand why they are not on a plane flying out of there. Please continue to keep them as well as the people of Myanmar in your prayers. Thank for all of your love and concern during this horrific event.

Love,
Julia Mims

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Julia G. Mims
To: Julia Mims
Sent: Wednesday, May 7, 2008 4:50:10 PM
Subject: FW: A message from Melanie Von Spreecken



From: ROGER HOVE [mailto:Rhove@iss.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, May 07, 2008 4:30 PM
To: Julia G. Mims
Subject: A message from Melanie Von Spreecken

Dear Family and Friends,

Thank you for all the wonderful notes and words of support and
encouragement. It is truly a bleak situation here. Daily we see the
clean up of Yangon and are amazed and the creativity and tenacity of
the Myanmar people. We have yet to see a front loader and yet the
streets are cleared more and more each day. We haven't heard a
chainsaw, but the people work with a machete with skill that belongs
in the Guinness Book of Records. And there have been more uniforms
around in the past couple of days, but never wielding the tools of
reconstruction, rather standing on the sidelines watching.

We have been able to access the news and watch in horror the
destruction and devastation of villages, lives, and livelihoods. The
news reports it well and we are glad that the world can catch a
glimpse of the horror. However, that is not the life that we are
living. CNN would not want to film our lovely apartment building
because all they would see would be a few broken roof tiles. Our lives
are very removed from the devastation that you see on TV. We need you
to understand this and to rest assured that we would never knowingly
put our lives in danger.

The storm was predicted to hit sometime on Friday. Greg and I have
just moved to an apartment on 2nd floor up to one on 4th floor. The
rain came late Friday night; we went to sleep to the sound of driving
rain. Then the winds started very early morning. I've never seen or
heard anything like it. We were mesmerized as we witnessed the power
of the cyclone from our windows. Before the storm the area below our
apartment was covered with lush vegetation. Sadly, maybe one fourth of
it is left. Amazingly the three palm trees that we watched dancing
their maniacal dance are still standing proud.

The school was hit hard. One of our buildings is a nine story
building. I teach on 6th floor of this building and from my floor on
up the windows were blown completely out. Tables and chairs were
strewn across the floor and any loose papers were lost forever. But by
the grace of God very little was actually lost or destroyed in the
devastation. My piano stands against a wall that no longer exists, and
yet when I sat down and ran my fingers across the keys, I found music.

When the storm abated on Saturday afternoon we realized that we
couldn't go anywhere so we continued to work on our move. The
apartment building kept electricity via a generator, but TV, phone
service and internet was down. We couldn't really say that no news was
good news and about 3:30 that afternoon one of the teachers ventured
over on his bike. He was mud from head to toe and had endured a
treacherous ride, but he wanted to report that the news was in fact
very bad. His words were bleak and Greg knew he needed to get over
there to see it. Very few taxis were working, and those that were
charged exorbitant prices to brave the roads covered with trees,
poles, electricity wires and debris of every kind.

What he found when he finally arrived at the school was both
devastating and inspiring. The school had suffered a hit of
unimaginable strength, but there in the rubble starting to clean up
were many of the teaching staff who live right across the street from
the school. Knee deep in debris, water, broken glass were teachers,
housekeeping staff and security guards worked side by side trying to
find some semblance of order.

Our managing director suffered overwhelming damage in his schools
throughout the area. But he called in all his resources and daily we
have watched the school take shape. Windows are still missing, but
sheets of plywood stand ready to be put in. Electricity is being
checked and rechecked before hooking up the generator. Rubble and
debris is removed by the armful by an endless stream of workers
climbing up and down the 9 floor building. The building remains eerily
quiet except for the flip flop of their bare feet going up and down
and the melancholy sound of the songs they sing while working.

The teachers returned on Monday for a meeting and assessment of the
damage. Tuesday the Americans attended a town meeting at the Embassy.
Today Greg brought the staff together and explained the situation, the
Embassy's recommendations, and led a group discussion of where we
wanted to go. The response of the teachers is a memory that I will
carry forever. The desire to carry on for the sake of the kids was
overwhelming. I was truly inspired and humbled by the professionalism
and dedication of my colleagues when all hands went up in response to
Greg's question, "If we have students and we can make the building
safe, how many of you would like to see us finish the school year?"

Maybe now you will understand when you write to us asking us to please
come home, why we have not yet made any return reservations. We will
continue to monitor the situation daily. We have students dropping by
the school daily to check on the progress. There are many more
students who we haven't yet seen and we continue to hope and pray that
they are safe. The plan is to hold a student/parent meeting on Monday
morning and if the parents concur with the teachers, YIS will open its
doors on Tuesday to finish the last three weeks of the 2007/08 school
year. Our goals are lofty, but the rewards are great.
If our plans change we will be in touch.

Much love,
Melanie & Greg

NO CLASSES May 13th-28th

I won't be teaching May 13th-28th.

Classes at James Howell Studio will be cancelled, but if you come to those regularly, you know Ngu, and he'll be opening the studio for an open practice group on some days, if that suits you :) My first class back at James Howell Studio will be Saturday May 31st.

Class at Grace Cathedral will be cancelled May 14, 21, and 28, and will resume on June 4th.

Class at Gold's Gym will by covered by Eben Ostergaard:
http://www.ebenflow.com/

Classes at Yoga Flow will be covered by Eben Ostergaard and Jim Donovan, with Jim teaching on the 19th and 21st, and Eben teaching the other classes. My first class back at Yoga Flow will be Monday June 2nd.

My LAST class before leaving will be Monday night at Yoga Flow, 8pm. Hope to see you all there!

namaste,
jamie