Support Saw John Aung Thong, home-stay owner affected by the | Milaap
Support Saw John Aung Thong, home-stay owner affected by the lockdown.
  • Asha

    Created by

    Asha
  • SJ

    This fundraiser will benefit

    Saw John Aung Thong

    from Mayabunder, Andaman & Nicobar Islands

My name is Saw John Aung Thong, and I live in the village of Webi, Mayabunder in the northern part of Middle Andaman. I belong to the Karen community that migrated to the island from present day Myanmar (Burma) in 1920s. My wife Naw Doris and I run a small traditional Karen home-stay (Koh Hee meaning ‘island home’),, where we live with our two children. Koh Hee is the first registered homestay in Mayabunder, and over the past four years we have hosted many guests who would like to get a village experience in the islands.

The tourism industry is one of the worst affected by the pandemic and subsequent lockdown. With the restrictions in travel across the world, there have been no visitors at Koh Hee since March 2020, severely affecting our overall income. The situation is more challenging because our elder son, Saw Shelep John suffers from Down’s Syndrome and Heart Congenital Disease and needs frequent hospital visits. His condition has recently deteriorated affecting his mobility and making him very dependent on us for movement. He has been admitted to the hospital several times in the past few months alone. There are very limited medical facilities in Mayabunder, making hospitals a high risk area for already immuno-compromised patients such as Shelep during the on-going pandemic. Hence, we need to make additional arrangements at home to ensure that his regular medical requirements like oxygen supply etc. are met as much as possible, reducing the need to visit the hospital frequently.

The funds raised will be used to purchase an oxygen concentrator, engage a long-term care-giver and address other medical and health related expenses incurred in the current circumstances

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