Baptist and Roman Catholic Church groups in Kachin state's Bhamo Township combined their efforts to send malaria and diarrhea medicine to internally displaced people's (IDPs) camps located on the Kachin-China border earlier this week.
Last Monday a four-wheel drive jeep laden with medicine embarked on a relief trip to camps located in both government controlled and Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) controlled areas. The medicine is badly needed after a spike of illness brought on by the rainy season, said Baptist pastor Tu Ja, one of the convoy organizers.
Aid reached the government controlled camp of Loije and nearby Nyaung Napyin. N’hkawng Pa, Hpunglum Yang, Woi Chyai camps that all fall in KIO-controlled areas.
More trips are planned convoy organizers said.
"We can see that the political tensions will last for some time. We will keep supporting the IDP. We also have a plan to support IDP schools,” said Pastor Tu Ja.
Father Sumlut Gam led religious leaders that visited camps near Laiza on Monday. His group also met with IDP students staying in Alen Bum, the former military headquarters of the KIO's military-wing the Kachin Independence Army (KIA).
School has resumed following a month long delay for both junior high and high schools in Alen Bum on Wednesday, according to Hkawng Lum, the school headmaster.
More than 45,000 refugees that live in camps in KIO controlled territory along the China border depend on regular food and medical support from church groups and other local non-governmental organizations for their survival. All of the international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), including UN agencies, have had very little access to these camps since the Kachin conflict resumed in June 2011.
