A chance meeting while holidaying in Myanmar in 2012 was the start of long term relationship with the people of Lintha Village. A visit to the Vera Thompson English Language School by Geoff and Sophie Mead and the opportunity to meet its founders and operators Sue and Sahin Ozturk was the catalyst for the establishment what has become the charity, Digging Deep for Myanmar.

Sue and Sahin have lived in Lintha since 2000. They established the English language school to provide quality education opportunities for local children to enable them to gain employment in the blossoming tourist industry, which ironically was stealing the livelihoods of many of their families. Many families have been forced out of their traditional employment and lifestyles by tourist development and being poorly educated, were unable to gain employment in this new industry. The English language school is now supported by UK based charity, the Andrew Clark Trust, our partners in Myanmar who provide on ground support and guidance.

Sue highlighted the need for decent toilet facilities as only around 30% of the population had access to adequate sanitation. Having some experience in small scale sanitation work, Geoff offered to help out and returned the following year with a group of likeminded and suitably experienced volunteers to build a prototype toilet and investigate further options.

The rest is history. Digging Deep was established and since 2013 we have returned annually with willing volunteers to build over 50 toilets in the village. The charity now provides emergency housing, health, hygiene and dental care education and through our visiting volunteers we deliver donated clothing for distribution in the community.

As we grew our support base continued to expand and we realised that due to this growth, we needed help to meet the demands and increasing workload. In mid-2016 we formed a committee to oversee the work of the group. The committee comprised volunteers who had visited Lintha and also had specific skills required to further the work. In June 2017, in order to maintain the trust and goodwill of our supporters, we decided to register Digging Deep for Myanmar as an Australian charity.

With the strong support of the Andrew Clark Trust we continue to provide much needed aid to the people of Myanmar. Our long term goal is a community who enjoy a dignified and sustainable lifestyle with hygienic sanitation, secure housing, clean water supply and financial security.

Our Directors

Jo Banner
Tim Banner
Jamie Maslen
Geoff Mead
Terry Wilson