Answering the Call: Safe Water Flowing After Myanmar Earthquake
When a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck Myanmar and Thailand on March 28, 2025, it left many homeless and without reliable access to necessities like safe water. Thanks to your support throughout the year, Water Mission immediately deployed our Disaster Assistance Response Team to assess water, sanitation, and hygiene needs in the region.
After an initial assessment, our team began partnering with Myanmar Rescue Mandalay, an organization that distributes water throughout the city via trucks. We installed a treatment system at their headquarters to ensure the water they distribute is safe.
We also implemented emergency safe water systems in other affected areas. One of these is located in a monastery beside an annihilated slum that is working to serve displaced people, including 16-year-old Mhue.
After an earthquake struck and destroyed her home, Mhue and her family relocated to a monastery in Mandalay, Myanmar.
Mhue came to the monastery after the earthquake destroyed her family’s home.
We have to wait here because we don't know if there will be another earthquake. I have to stay in this monastery because my house is badly damaged.
“At first, because we are not used to living here, there were some difficulties,” Mhue said.
Eventually, however, Mhue found community with other displaced children and the monastery leaders.
“We help each other,” she said. “People help each other, and I play with the children. I have a lot of friends here, and the monks in this monastery are very helpful.”
After Water Mission got safe water flowing in the community, Mhue says it was, “a lot of help, because water is necessary in our life—to drink or for washing clothes or doing many other things.”
Water Mission installed an emergency safe water treatment system at the monastery, providing reliable safe water for Mhue and other residents.
In two months, we installed six safe water systems, which have provided up to 7,300 gallons (27,800 liters) of safe water per day to the Mandalay community. We also trucked water to 12 sites throughout the city. With the initial response complete, we have entrusted local partners with system maintenance, equipping them to continue providing safe water.
Because of the generosity of friends like you, nearly 16,000 people have received access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene in Myanmar, empowering them to rebuild their lives after the earthquake.
Thank you, Water Mission, for your help and your support.
We thank you for enabling us to respond quickly when disasters strike, serving Mhue and other disaster survivors around the world.
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