Dear sisters, partners-in-mission, family, and friends,

On 28 March 2025, a violent earthquake devastated central Myanmar, followed by other violent seismic tremors. More than 5,000 people lost their lives, thousands were injured, and over 17 million were affected.

In Mandalay and beyond, families now sleep in the open, exposed to fear, heat and rain, with no access to clean water, shelter or even the most basic necessities.

Among them are our beloved Good Shepherd sisters and the communities they have served for generations. Present in Myanmar since the late 1800s, Good Shepherd sisters now share fully in the suffering of their neighbours. Three of our communities – in Chan Myay Tharzi, Myo Thit, and Myit Nge – were badly damaged. Thirty-five young women in vocational training and 30 children have been evacuated. All activities have been suspended.

Yet the sisters remain – responding with courage and care.

Every day, they are serving some 500 families – over 2,500 people – many of them day labourers who have lost everything. Thanks to the immediate mobilisation of the closest major donors and of the Central Fund of the Congregation, an initial emergency response is already underway to provide food, water, hygiene kits, and temporary shelter.

But the days ahead will be about more than survival.

Now begins the long journey of rebuilding – not just structures, but security and hope. Rebuilding the Good Shepherd centres means restoring water systems, toilets, spaces where women and children can heal and gather, and also learn.

We think about women like Aye Thandar, who had come to study tailoring. When the earthquake struck, she fled her training centre with nothing. Today she sleeps under a tarpaulin, but still says: “I want to go back. I still want to be a teacher. I still want to help others.”

Her words speak of the same Paschal mystery that invites us to reflect on the possibility of resurrection — of a life that is not spared from suffering, but that rises again through care, solidarity, and love.

This is not a moment for quick solutions. It is a time for long-term solidarity, for careful reconstruction, for a commitment to walk together — patiently, faithfully, zealously — toward healing and hope.

This is where we all come in.

Your support will help accompany the people of Myanmar not only in their moment of grief and suffering, but in the slow, yet powerful rebirth that begins when someone feels seen, supported, and not alone.

Please, join us in this effort. Help us make sure the earthquake does not have the last word. That the future, rebuilt together, will speak, instead, of hope.

We invite you to walk with them. With us. Together, we can help Myanmar rise again.

Please, donate to GSIF to support the Myanmar Earthquake Emergency Appeal – Good Shepherd International Foundation. Donations can be made also by bank transfer – more information here.

With heartfelt thanks and renewed hope,

Sr. Joan Marie Lopez

Congregational Leader

Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd

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Cristina Duranti

Director

Good Shepherd International Foundation