Breathe Counselling proudly supports House of Grace orphanage in Myanmar. As our contribution to the developing world, it is our honour to serve such a worthy cause. Myanmar (formerly Burma) is a Southeast Asian nation of more than 100 ethnic groups, bordering India, Bangladesh, China, Laos and Thailand. Yangon (formerly Rangoon), the country’s largest city, is home to bustling markets, numerous parks and lakes, and the towering, gilded Shwedagon Pagoda, which contains Buddhist relics and dates to the 6th century.
Myanmar has a history of political upheaval, religious and ethnic conflict and human rights ‘horror stories’. The latest humanitarian fiasco in Myanmar is the present military coup. In addition to this there has been a recent refugee crisis amongst minority groups, namely the Rohingya Muslims. More than 420,000 terrified Rohingyas crossed the border from Myanmar into Bangladesh escaping the Myanmar Military. More than 6,700 Rohingya Muslims were shot, burned and beaten to death in the first month of the brutal campaign against them that began in Myanmar’s Rakhine state in August 2017. According to this estimate this included at least 730 children, some plucked from their mothers’ arms to be murdered. It is considered to be the worst refugee crisis in decades.
House of Grace
House of Grace presently supports 70 orphans and 7 widows. Many of the orphans have come from parents who have either lost their lives, abandoned their children or lost their capacity to parent because of alcohol addiction. The reality is, that if organizations like House of Grace don’t take children in, the children are taken in to the Monasteries, where they will be forced to collect money on the street and attend to the needs of the monks. Unfortunately, in this predicament it is typical for the orphans to be mistreated and abused.
House of Grace has a music school, trains widows in sewing and hairdressing and supports the orphans in accessing education. Ps Mang does some work for the Myanmar Embassy to support his family and the orphanage, but the sustainability and growth of House of Grace and its capacity to support orphans and widows is dependent upon the generosity of supporters. Donations largely go towards microfinancing the orphanage to set up self sustainable businesses and financing food, education costs and maintenance of the orphanage. If you wish to make additional donations to House of Grace, please contact Breathe Counselling on 0422275494 or email admin@breathecounselling.com
All counsellors and therapists associated with Breathe Counselling Perth are engaged in regular professional development, counselling and psychology supervision. Our counsellors are members of either or both ACA (Australian Counselling Association) and PACFA (Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia).