Eugene couple help in Myanmar relief effort
As frustrated foreign aid workers plead to enter Myanmar, one American couple is already ferrying supplies to cyclone victims.
Curt and Cathy Bradner, of Eugene, Ore., have been working on a water treatment project in Myanmar for two years. They have secured the military regime's trust -- and that has paid off with visas allowing them to come and go as they please.
Cathy Bradner says they have a good relationship with the Myanmar people, and "we never empower ourselves.''
The 52-year-old is preparing to take a shipment of water purification tablets and filtration equipment into Yangon, the country's largest city.
According to the U.N., more than 60,000 people were killed or are missing, and more than one million are homeless.
The Bradners left for Myanmar on Wednesday, May 7.
They are the founders of the company called 'Thirst Aid', which makes ceramic water filters that can be used in emergencies like this one.
Their daughter Bree said they've arrived safely and have started deploying aid.
Thirst-aid has about four million of the tablets used in their system.
The team is using them along with two portable water filtration units to create potable water stations.
The Bradners recently showed us the ceramic water filters they've taught the people of Myanmar to make.
The two filter factories in Myanmar were damaged in the cyclone, but they've been repaired and are now up and running.
Cathy believes they've found people exhibiting signs of cholera, so their efforts are desperately needed.
Thirst-aid is now trying to get those filters to as many families as possible to prevent further disease outbreaks.
