Rice generated by Internet game to feed cyclone victims
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18/06/2008
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Indian Express (New Delhi)
Survivors of the cyclone which ravaged Myanmar last month will soon receive rice generated by the popular UN-backed Internet game that allows players to expand their word skills while helping to feed the world's hungry. FreeRice.com, in which 20 grains of rice are donated to the UN World Food Programme (WFP) every time a person answers a question correctly, has already generated over 36 billion grains of rice enough for more than 3.7 million meals. Two consignments of rice for Myanmar have been paid for by YUM! and Unilever, the latest companies to help fund the FreeRice initiative. WFP will be distributing the rice to many of the 755,000 people it is aiming to feed as part of relief efforts across Myanmar in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, which struck the South-east Asian nation on May 2 and 3. The disaster caused the greatest damage to the Irrawaddy Delta area and the country's most populous city, Yangon. Over 134,000 people are dead or missing as a result, and about 2.4 million people were affected and need humanitarian assistance. In recent weeks WFP has dispatched at least 11,000 tonnes of food assistance in the country and now has 10 chartered helicopters flying in the Delta, enabling the delivery of vital relief supplies to those who need it most. Meanwhile, WHO said Myanmar's health system is "back on its feet' following last month's tragedy thanks to an all-out response by the government, the UN and the international community.