ShelterBox Disaster Relief

By Irene Merrill, ShelterBox USA Zone Coordinator

ShelterBox is a Rotary-sponsored disaster relief project which provides housing and disaster relief assistance for survivors.  This project was founded in 2000 by the Rotary Club of Helston Lizard, Cornwall, England, and has since been warmly endorsed by Rotary Clubs and others around the world as a fast, solid way to respond to disasters – be they acts of nature, or acts of man such as civil war.  It is Rotary’s fastest growing club-to-club project.  ShelterBox is administered in the U.S., Canada, and Australia by an administrative Rotary Club in each country, and each has a country-specific project name:  ShelterBox USA, ShelterBox Down Under, and ShelterBox Canada.  Our “main” home in the U.K. is simply called ShelterBox.

The ShelterBox is a container which holds housing and disaster relief supplies for a minimum of 10 people:  a waterproof and UV-resistant large family-size tent, sleeping bags, ground cloth, multi-fuel cookstove, enameled steel dishes, pots, utensils, small hand tools, water purification tablets, and collapsible water storage containers.   The tent will last a minimum of six months.  Each box costs $900, which comes to less than $ .50 per day per person.  Very often, we have been fortunate that the units are shipped for free – after the tsunami, both Air India and Air Sri Lanka shipped them into south Asia and India gratis.  Virgin Airways has been one of our “angel” supporters, taking the ShelterBoxes to destinations such as Africa at no charge.  In the U.S., Old Dominion Freight Lines out of the south shipped units to the Gulf States for free.  Every dime we save on transportation goes back into the program.

ShelterBoxes have been deployed all over the world on nearly every continent.  ShelterBox “villages” have been set up in war-torn Liberia, Uganda, and Darfur in the Sudan.  They have been sent to India for survivors of violent monsoon flooding, and to Bam, Iran, to survivors of the deadly 2003 earthquake.  They were sent to Grenada, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic after the hurricanes of 2004.

On December 26, 2004, a monstrous tsunami struck south Asia.  The death toll was huge, and the coastlines utterly devastated – leaving hundreds of thousands homeless and without the most basic necessities.  By December 28, ShelterBoxes were arriving in affected areas.  Their placement was overseen by ShelterBox volunteers (all Rotarians), Rotary volunteers, and aid workers from NGO’s such as OxFam and the Salvation Army in the affected countries.  Currently, there are more than 6,000 housing units throughout south Asia, housing approximately 60,000 people!

The ShelterBox project was in the process of gearing up for a massive aid project, working in conjunction with the U.N. High Commission on Refugees, to provide ShelterBox “villages” to the refugees of war-torn Sudan, in the Darfur region.  The UNHCR would be taking the units in, as it was far too dangerous for the ordinary Rotary volunteer.  We were getting started in helping to relieve the misery of some of the million refugees in the region – mostly women and children.

Then, disaster struck the United States, in the form of Hurricane Katrina.  Coastal communities in Mississippi and Louisiana were devastated, and infrastructure was destroyed.  ShelterBoxes were sent in, and ShelterBox communities were set up in state and local parks where evacuees could get hot showers, cook and receive meals, and be centrally located for disaster assistance purposes.  In an eerie echo of the tsunami survivors, many hurricane survivors chose to erect their ShelterBox tents on the sites of their former homes – where they will stay until those homes are re-built.  At the end of October, we received a phone call from the Salvation Army in the hurricane zone – the Red Cross was shutting down its shelters shortly, and they were in desperate need of 200 more ShelterBoxes.  We are trying to meet this request, but our resources are stretched extremely thin right now.

On October 8, 2005, the Kashmir region of Pakistan was struck by an enormous 7.6 earthquake.  Aside from the many tens of thousands of residents killed, the tragedy of the thousands upon thousands left homeless is about to be compounded due to the fact that winter is descending upon this extremely mountainous area.  Already, nighttime temperatures are in the single digits.  As of the first week of November, 7,000 ShelterBox housing units have been sent in, and also extra sleeping bags.  Getting the ShelterBoxes in is a daunting task – the areas are extremely rugged and remote.  Grateful recipients are carrying the ShelterBoxes to the remains of their villages on their backs, which is no mean feat – each weighs more than 100 lbs.  They are being taken in via 4WD vehicles, motorized scooters, and donkeys.

eClubOne members continue to be important and wonderful supporters of ShelterBox.  For those survivors of the Kashmir earthquake, these housing units will go beyond mere assistance – they will save lives.  It is our hope that each and every one of you who has contributed to ShelterBox understands the importance of the effort in which you are participating.  While we sadly cannot assist the millions who need our help, if you were one of the families who received a ShelterBox, and whose children now have a dry, comfortable place of refuge to live and lay their heads – it means so much.  The gratitude of a parent whose child – or elderly parents –are now out of the elements cannot be underestimated.

At ShelterBox, we say, “The need exists, and the need persists”.  Disasters of every scope are continuing around the world, and the need for ShelterBox is growing daily.  One never knows but that a disaster could strike home.  Rotary International has been a firm supporter of our efforts in providing information about ShelterBox to members and clubs around the world.  The ongoing support of Rotarians and Rotary clubs is crucial to our continuing efforts – please consider making a donation to help us with this worthy project.

Rotarian Irene Merrill

ShelterBox USA Far West Zones Coordinator

inm@thegrid.net