Hélöise Geoghegan and Gloria Campaner after their concert in Yangon In 2013 LInk for Aid continued its work helping underprivileged children in Myanmar and Cambodia. We also broke new ground using  music as a way to gain visibility and raise funds for our charities, with a concert in Rome, sponsored by Viaggi del Mappamondo, and a concert and charity evening in Yangon in partnership with Traders Hotel of the Shangri-La Group. In November the mezzosoprano Susanne Mecklenburg invited Link for Aid to benefit from a concert she was giving in Rome, sponsored by Viaggi del Mappamondo. In Yangon, also in November, Link for Aid and Traders Hotel Yangon organized Music for Myanmar, a charity concert with two leading young musicians, Hélöise Geoghegan (violin) and Gloria Campaner (piano). It was a magical evening of music by Verdi, Franck, Massenet and de Falla performed by two stunning young solists who delighted the audience with their artistry, class and warmth. We donated school uniforms and bicycles to poor children in Samrong Village near Angkor Wat in Cambodia, and we also gave university and technical training scholarships to teachers from the Angkor Kid’s Centre. And we took on a new project  the little Parami Orphanage in Dala, across the river from Yangon where  Link for Aid, and Shangri-La Residences is now supporting the 18 orphans.

To read and see what we did in 2013 all you have to do it click on this image to download the pdf

And this afternoon a MIRACLE happened!  “Five hours ago I posted that Pon Put, a young Cambodian student studying agriculture in Thailand, cannot afford to buy the laptop he needs for his studies. Now he will have one. Thank you, thank you, thank you Paula Camba!”

Link for Aid – because we are a vital link that brings aid to children in need in two of the poorest countries in the world: Myanmar and Cambodia.  We are a  small but streamlined non-profit organization. We do not have offices or overheads, we work through our volunteer founding and honorary members, each of whom provides invaluable input for our projects.

The funds we raise go DIRECTLY to where they are most needed,  providing access to education for deaf and dumb, orphaned and underprivileged children.  What we give them allows them to attend school, acquire vital professional skills and learn English – which is a sinequanon for their futures and the futures of their communities.

Our six founding members are volunteers and receive no recompense.

 The association  produces an annual budget, as well as a report on what it has achieved during the  year and details of the  projects in progress.

Founding members

Pamela McCourt Francescone ,  Journalist and world traveller

Francesca Moscheni,    Photographer

Barbara Cielo,   Businesswoman

Paola Pescetelli,     Communications executive

Elisabetta Croce,    Businesswoman

Maurizio Mandl,    Customer Relations Manager, Asian Trails, Yangon

Honorary members

Armando Muccifora,   Sales Manager  Thai International Airways Italy

Andrea M ele, President and Managing Director, Viaggi del Mappamondo, Rome

and to the hospice thanks to donations received. Each time she returns to Yangon Pamela visits local markets and buys basic necessities such as rice, lentils, oil, vegetables, copybooks and pens, delivering them directly to the  headmistress of the school together with   donations to help the daily running of the institute.  She does the same for  the hospice helping the sisters to purchase food for the 220 old people in their care.    We have also given donations to Kyaw Kyaw Win, a blind teacher in a small school in Sittwe in the Rakhine state in the north of Myanmar and we actively support  Samnang Chhon’’s Angkor Kid’s Centre in the village of Samrong near Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

The Mary Chapman School for the Deaf, in Dagon Township in Yangon,  was founded by an English lady in 1920. It is a private institute and does not benefit from any state aid, depending entirely on donations and humanitarian aid.  As well as teaching deaf and dumb children, aged from 5 to eighteen, it is a vocational training centre for teachers for the deaf.  Currently the school has some 350 pupils from 12 different ethnic groups and of 4 religions (Buddhist, Christian, Muslim and Hindu) some thirty of whom are full-time boarders either because they are orphans or their families live in other parts of the country. There are also ten young trainee teachers who help the children learn crafts such as sewing, dressmaking, knitting, embroidery, how to use the PC, book-binding, cooking and Shiatsu massage.

The Home for the Aged Kandawgala in the heart of Yangon looks after some 250 old people. In May 2008 when Cyclone Nargis ripped through the Delta area, wiping out villages and killing thousands, the hospice took in many old people who had been left  destitute and without a roof over their head.  The building is old, but the sisters do all they can to provide dignified and comfortable living conditions for the old folk with the donations they receive.  The hospice survives entirely on money received from locals, foreign residents and visitors. Often the boxes on the board in the hall, which are ticked to show that there are sufficient funds to provide lunch and dinner on the different days of the month, are empty. Sister Mary smiles and says:  “Even when things look difficult, God always provides!”

The Angkor Kid’s Centre in Samrong VIllage, near Angkor Wat in Cambodia was set up by Samnang Chhon and now provides  after-school English classes for close to 400 children.  In 2013 Link for Aid  send many children in the village to school by providing uniforms and bicycles to children whose parents could not afford to buy them. We also gave scholarships to some of the volunteer teachers, allowing them to continue with their education at universities and training colleges.  And we made available a microloan for Sremoya,  a young girl in the village, allowing her to set up her own small business selling sugarcane juice.

Yangon 2008

Yangon – january 2011

Yangon 2011

The population of nearly 60 million people consists of many ethnic groups including the Bamars, Shan, Karen, Kachin, Mon e Rakhaing. The predominant religion is Buddhism.

The life expectancy for men is 58,4 years and for women 64,2 years.  The infantile mortality rate is 69 per thousand, putting Myanmar in the category of the countries with the lowest human development rate.

Almost 79% of the population lives in rural areas and one third lives under the poverty line. (US$1 a day according to the World Bank).

The country has abundant natural resources and exports precious woods like teak, natural gas, jade and rubies

Yangon, the commercial, diplomatic and financial heart of the country has 4 million inhabitants. In 2066 the government moved the capital from Yangon to Naypyidaw.

Since 2010 the country has undergone unprecedented changes with the former military leaders adopting civilian status and pointing the country on the road to democracy.  The changes are most obvious in  big cities like Yangon where a plot of land in the centre of town now costs more than in Manhattan.

Tourism is booming, but also causing problems as there is a  shortage of hotel rooms and tourist infrastructure.  In December 2013 Myanmar organized its first major international event, the SEA Games and in 2014 it will take over the ASEAN chairmanship.