Earthquake in Myanmar – your support helps!

Three Months of Humanitarian Work at Inle Lake
100 new homes and emergency aid for 1,800 families – your support makes a difference

On March 28, 2025, a catastrophic earthquake with a magnitude of 7.7 struck Myanmar, leaving a trail of destruction. The region around Inle Lake was hit especially hard. Within seconds, thousands of people lost their homes, their livelihoods – and tragically, many also their lives.

In the midst of this catastrophe, our local team at SONNE Social Organisation responded quickly, thoughtfully, and with full commitment. Now, more than three months later, we want to look back on this time with you – with deep gratitude, moving stories, and one clear message: your support has made a real difference.

Emergency Response in the First Days

Just two days after the earthquake, our local SONNE team was on the ground. The situation was dire: many villages were barely accessible, communication networks were down, and infrastructure was severely damaged.

Initial relief focused on distributing food, clean drinking water, and hygiene products. Hundreds found temporary shelter in a nearby monastery, which became a central emergency hub. Our team was among the few international aid organizations on site, able to deliver fast and unbureaucratic assistance in the monastery and surrounding villages on and around the lake.

After five visits to the lake and three months of hard work, only few traces of the disaster remain in the region we supported. The destroyed houses have been completely rebuilt.

Three Moving Stories of Hope

Among the many stories our team encountered, we would like to share three that represent the experiences of the 100 families we were able to support with your help:

Daw Nan Myaing – A New Home for a Strong Mother

When the earthquake struck on March 28, Daw Nan Myaing lost everything in an instant. Her home collapsed, and she and her three children sought refuge in an overcrowded monastery – with no privacy and no perspective. For weeks they lived in cramped conditions, constantly afraid of aftershocks and illness.

When the SONNE team first met her, she seemed calm but exhausted. Her greatest wish was for a roof over their heads and solid ground where her children could sleep safely.
Just a few weeks later, she became the first to move into one of the newly built homes.

The SONNE team visits Daw Nan Myaing and her family in their newly built home. The shock of losing their old house has now almost faded.

U Sa – A Boat Restores Hope

71-year-old U Sa has been a fisherman for as long as he can remember. He lived with his wife in the village of Kyartaw on Inle Lake. The quake took everything from him – his house, his boat – and nearly his wife, who was severely injured and taken to the hospital.
When our team met him on March 31 at the monastery in Nam Pan, where he found shelter, he was quiet and reserved. “I miss my wife. And I don’t know how I’ll provide for my family,” he said.
Thanks to donations, he received a new motorized boat just days later. Today, he is back on the lake every day – together with his now-recovered wife.

“I thought I had to start all over. But now, I feel like I can simply continue.”

U Sa is happy to be able to pick up his now-recovered wife from the hospital with his new boat. Meanwhile, ten more SONNE boats are already being assembled in the workshop.

U Than Htay – A Father Fighting for His Children

U Than Htay lost not only his home in the earthquake but also all sense of security. A widower with four children under 15, he was left with nothing. After the collapse of their home, he tried to build a makeshift shelter – but with the monsoon approaching, it quickly became clear that it wouldn’t be enough.

Thanks to donations from SONNE supporters, a new house was also built for him. When our team handed it over, he stood proudly in the doorway with his children.

“I don’t know how to say thank you. But when I see how peacefully my children sleep now, I know things are looking up.”

Head of SONNE Social Organization, San San in conversation with Mr. U Than Htay in his new living room.

These are just three of hundreds of stories that show your support truly makes a difference. They speak of strength, dignity, and small moments of hope made possible by your generous contributions.

But these stories are just part of a larger success story we have written together over the past three months…

100 Homes, 11 Boats, 1,800 People Supported – Your Help Makes a Difference

Thanks to your support, we were able to achieve incredible things at Inle Lake and in the surrounding villages, including:

✅ Building 100 new homes so families can sleep safely and stay dry.
✅ Donating 11 boats so fishers and vegetable farmers can earn their own income again.
✅ Providing immediate support to over 1,800 people with food, medicine, and cash assistance.

These numbers are impressive. But what they truly represent are the many smiling faces our team sees during every visit: families finding peace, children being children again, and people regaining the ability to help themselves and others

Challenges Ahead

With our final mission completed in late June, our acute emergency response in the region has come to a temporary close. But the challenges remain, as severe crises continue to unfold in Myanmar.

Please help us replenish our nearly exhausted SONNE Emergency Fund so we are ready for future relief missions. Many families still depend on our support.

Thank you for showing the people of Myanmar: You are not alone!

Smiling faces and joyful people in one of the poorest countries in the world. We owe this to our generous donors from around the world – and of course to the courageous and dedicated team of SONNE Social Organisation. THANK YOU!!

Please continue to donate to the SONNE emergency fund so that we can help quickly, flexibly and unbureaucratically in dramatic situations – exactly where help is needed most urgently.

Update 03.04.: First aid mission at Inle Lake successfully completed

Just two days after the devastating earthquake, our local SONNE team was able to provide urgently needed aid in the disaster area around Inle Lake – close to the epicentre.

The focus was on distributing food and clean drinking water to affected families who had lost their homes. Around 1,500 people found temporary shelter in a nearby monastery, which has established itself as a central reception camp – this is also where the relief efforts of the few organisations currently working on site are concentrated.

You can find regular updates on the situation in Myanmar and our relief efforts on our YouTube channel.

The first week of the aid mission has been successfully completed. Here are some impressions of the last few days.

Our mission in the focus of the international media

As one of the few international aid organisations registered in Myanmar, SONNE-International was also the point of contact for numerous international media during the mission. Our Austrian project coordinator Jochen Meissner was on hand to answer questions – including for Austrian and German broadcasters, the BBC and many other media organisations – while at the same time being actively involved in the aid mission.

Our colleagues returned to Yangon yesterday, exhausted but determined. They are currently preparing the next aid transport for next week. On Monday, the team will be travelling back to the disaster area to distribute more relief supplies. At the same time, initial talks are being held with local politicians, partner organisations and foundations to coordinate the reconstruction of the destroyed communities.

Special thanks go to all those who have supported us with their donations during this difficult time. The huge wave of solidarity gives our team strength – it helps us to carry on, even when the strain is reaching its limits.

Thank you very much for your great support!

Update 31.03.: Emergency aid started at Inle Lake

We have been continuously active in Myanmar since 2008 – and it is precisely this long-standing presence that enables us to help quickly and effectively in the event of a disaster.

Just a few days after the severe earthquake, the full extent of the destruction is becoming clear – especially in the region around Inle Lake, close to the epicentre. Our local SONNE Social Organisation team was active just a few hours after the quake. After a long journey, they reached one of the worst-affected areas two days after the disaster.

Our dedicated employees are currently providing emergency aid there – directly to those affected:

Our employees are currently working tirelessly to provide help – distributing food, providing clean drinking water and assisting people with direct, unbureaucratic support.

Our courageous team on the ground is supporting the affected families with great commitment and a lot of heart – under the most difficult conditions and despite the ongoing uncertainty in the region.

The SONNE team distributing relief supplies in one of the areas hardest hit by the earthquake.

Update 29 March: The SONNE team is preparing for the aid mission at Inle Lake

In the region around the well-known Inle Lake in the centre of Myanmar, the devastation caused by the earthquake is so great that up to 25% of all houses there have been destroyed – many families have lost their homes and all their belongings overnight. The local SONNE team is currently preparing an aid mission to provide the affected people on the ground with the bare necessities. Departure is planned for the early morning of 30 March, but it is still unclear whether the roads to the affected region will be passable. We are keeping our fingers crossed for our team and wish them all the best for their mission.

Current pictures from the region around Inle Lake. Until yesterday, this region was a tourist attraction, known for its charming floating villages. Now the families who live there have lost everything.

Update 28.03: We are ready to help

The situation in the country is confusing and very serious – the media are reporting hundreds of deaths. The extent of the damage is still unclear in large parts of the country – our team on the ground is currently evaluating the situation and preparing for targeted aid measures.

Many people in Myanmar were not as lucky as the children at the SONNE support centre. The extent of the destruction is enormous – as the first pictures from Myanmar show.