Finances tight for Sittwe orphanage amid rising food prices and drop in donors

By DMG 26 Dec 2022

DMG Newsroom
26 December 2022, Sittwe

The ABC Foundation is struggling financially to continue running its orphanage in the Arakan State capital Sittwe due to high commodity costs and a decline in donations.

The foundation has been forced to dip into its reserve funds to feed the children, according to administrative officer U La Min Kyaw Thu of the ABC Foundation. Fewer and fewer people are making donations due to high unemployment, economic stagnation and a general increase in costs of living, he explained.

“We are struggling. … Food prices have soared, and we have to spend from the [reserve] funds to buy rice, cooking oil, salt, vegetables and so on,” he said.

“We have been forced to spend savings that we had set aside for the future of the children,” he added.

Compared to years prior, few people have been making donations to the orphanage since the outbreak of Covid-19, said U La Min Kyaw Thu.

The orphanage currently takes care of 64 children and employs 26 staff, including four teachers. The foundation previously employed 35 staff, but was forced to reduce its workforce.

“We had over 30 staff before the Covid-19 outbreak, and we were forced to lay off some 10 staff during the Covid-19 outbreak. We are having financial difficulties restoring the original workforce,” he said.

The combination of rising prices and declining donations is putting the orphanage in an increasingly tight financial situation, according to supervisor Daw Saw Hmone Yi of the ABC Foundation.

“There are still some donors now. However, I am afraid it will become more difficult for children if donations decline further. As for the staff, their basic monthly salary is just K170,000. Food prices keep increasing, and there will be fewer donations if food prices increase further. Then the staff will be in trouble,” she said.

The ABC Foundation was established in 2010.