| |
Out
of The Box
ShelterBox Canada
Newsletter
March
2008 |
Dear Barry,
ShelterBox Canada
reached a milestone
in February. Read
all about it in our
feature
article.Thanks to
all of you for your
efforts.
Sincerely,
Don Ohlgren
ShelterBox Canada
|
|
Fish Creek
Gets The Honour
ShelterBox
Canada's
Ambassador
in Calgary,
Alexis
Beddoe, is
shown with
Kent Fraser
President of
the Rotary
Club of Fish
Creek in
Calgary,
whose club
donated
funds for 17
ShelterBoxes in
February. One
of those
boxes was
designated
as
ShelterBox
Canada Box
#500. What
is
remarkable
is that this
club has
only 16
members!
Alexis is
one of those
members so
she was
particularly
gratified
about the
donation.
Thank you
Fish Creek -
small but
mighty!
|
|
More Boxes to
Bolivia
February
27th -
Bolivia:
The government
in Bolivia
declared a state
of emergency
with close to
60,000 families
affected by
heavy flooding.
Over the last
couple of days
Helston based
ShelterBox
volunteers have
packed boxes
equipped with
aid to help some
of these
families whose
homes where
washed away
when, yet again
rivers burst
their banks
after sustained
and frequent
rainfall.
200 ShelterBoxes
are currently
leaving the
warehouse, the
ShelterBox
Response Team
managers are
planning the
often difficult
deployment
details for the
safe and much
needed
distribution.
Due to the
location it is
likely that
ShelterBox will
call on their
American
response team
members, trained
here in Helston
and the US, to
carry out the
important and
gruelling work
in Bolivia.
Shelters and
camps are
currently
improvised by
the survivors,
and despite
mattresses and
food supplies
being
distributed by
the municipality
it is not
enough. Hundreds
of children are
living in
sub-standard,
temporary
accommodation,
with poor
sanitation
plagued with
mosquitoes.
|
|
Thank You
Rotary
Executive
Director of
ShelterBox
Canada, Alan
Lomax is
shown
accepting a
cheque from
the
Treasurer
and
President of
the Rotary
Club of
Duncan
Daybreak,
Cara Light
and Bernie
Grosse.
February
also saw
our
first
complete
box
donation
from a
French
speaking
Rotary
Club
in Laval,
Quebec.
On vous
remercie
beaucoup
Laval!Another
outstanding
contribution
was
received
from the
Rotary
Club of
Saskatoon
Meewasin
who
donated
4 boxes
through
District
GovernorJune
Cathcart.
Another
DG, Norm
Watts
from
5020,
set a
District
goal of
100
boxes
this
year,
and that
target
has
already
been
reached
with 3
more
months
left in
the Rotary
year.
|
Freezing in
Afghanistan
Hundreds of
displaced
Afghan
families
receive
ShelterBoxes
containing
tents,
winter
clothing,
blankets and
woodburning
stoves which
were
distributed
by ACTED and
the Ministry
of Refugees
and
Repatriation
at Bar-E-Kohab
camp near
BagramAirport,
Kabul,
Afghanistan
on Sunday
9th March,
2008.
55 of the
families
identified
as needing
shelter were
living in
the open in
the sub-zero
conditions...
ShelterBox's
experienced
SRT
member &
photo-journalist,
MarkPearson,
made an
intrepid
expedition
to the
worst
effected
area of
Western
Afghanistan.
On his
arrival
to Kabul
earlier
in the
week he
met with
ACTED &
Rotary
who
described
the
snowfall
as the
worst in
60 years
with
many
fatalities.
He met
many of
the
displaced
families
from the
HelmandProvince
gathered
in the
city
with no
shelter,
their
clothes
were
wet,
children
had no
shoes
and were
looking
unwell
in
temperatures
Mark
could
only
describe
as a
"Baltic
freezer".
|
|
Bolivia
cont'd
Hailstorms,
flash & severe
floods, along
with animal
plagues have
caused
devastation
among
communities and
destroyed
agricultural
land. Women and
children under
five-years old
are treated as a
priority and are
in desperate
need of shelter
along with other
essentials to
help to rebuild
their homes.
Many families
have been cut
off from
surrounding
areas after
refusing to be
evacuated from
their homes
despite rising
water levels.
The most
affected region
is
Beni
where over
13,000 people
have been
flooded out of
their
accommodation.
Santa Cruz was
badly affected
after rivers
swelled to
'extreme'
leaving
thousands of
stranded
families to be
evacuated to
camps and
shelters. Of
those who have
been rescued and
taken to camps,
hundreds are
suffering from
waterborne
diseases and
other illnesses.
|
|
|
RC Nanaimo Oceanside |
480 |
|
RC Orillia LakeCountry |
481 |
|
Brockville Clubs |
482 |
|
RC Cataraqui-Kingston |
483 |
|
RCLaval |
484 |
|
RCKapuskasing |
486 |
|
RC DuncanDaybreak |
487 |
|
RC Orillia |
489, 490 |
|
RC Calgary Fish Creek |
491, 492, 493, 494, 495, 496, 497, 498, 499, 500, 501, 502, 503, 504, 505, 506, 507 |
|
RCAirdrie |
508 |
|
RC Saskatoon Meewasin |
515, 516, 517, 518 |
|
Holmes,
Hamlyn,
Hartley,
& Shaw
families |
479 |
|
|
Members
of The
Rotary
Club of
Duncan |
485
|
|
PatriciaSibley |
488
|
|
DougGalloway |
509
|
|
|
Members
of the
Rotary
Club of
Creston
|
510
|
|
|
Members
of the
Rotary
Club of
Pincher
Creek
|
511
|
|
|
MurielEssery |
512
|
|
|
WaldyLoewen |
513
|
|
|
Citizens
of
Canada |
514
|
|
|
|
An Afghani woman
and child living
outside near
Kabul. |
|
Boxes to
Ecuador
Since
December
Ecuador has
experienced
its heaviest
rains in 25
years,
leading to
swelling
rivers and
devastating
floods.
Disasters
relating to
'la Nina'
have
affected 3.5
million
people with
the worst
hit area
being the
coastal
regions and
especially
provinces
such as
LosRios -
ShelterBox
has
responded by
sending a
ShelterBox
Response
Team and 200
boxes.
|
|
|
|
|
|

|
Out
of The Box
ShelterBox
Canada Newsletter
February 2008 |
Dear Barry,
January was another great month for
ShelterBox Canada thanks to all of you
and your efforts.
Sincerely,
Don Ohlgren
Shelterbox Canada |
|
"Favour" Arrives
January
18th - Rift Valley, Kenya:
In the history of Shelterbox
only one other baby has been
born in a tent during an
'Immediate Relief deployment'.
It has been a proud moment not
only for the SRT's but everyone
at HQ. Mark Pearson describes
the situation "Parents Louise
and Paul Kimani were forcibly
removed from the village of
Kericho seven days ago and until
we gave her shelter they were
living rough in the stadium. She
gave birth on Tuesday the same
day she moved into our
Shelterbox tent. She is a School
teacher and her husband is a
farmer they have two other
children." Louise Kamani said
"we have no where to go but here
and it is dangerous in the town
and there is nothing left
everything was burnt down
including the primary school and
secondary school"
Shelterbox has set up a well
organised and peaceful camp
in Nukuru, Rift Valley,
amidst Kenya's national
protest. Vulnerable women
and children are now safely
under shelter in a
showground tightly packed
with Shelterbox tents. The
first response team Mark
Pearson & Greg Rogers put up
an impressive 200 tents in
48 hours with the help from
the Scouts. People are
living together and in the
past two days numbers have
swelled from 2500 to 4000.
More displaced families are
expected over the next few
days, all are Kikuyu tribe
members from Eldoret, Kitale,
Kisumu and Burnt Forest.
In this violent man-made
situation there is still a
need for aid as the victims
are the innocent. Until
Shelterbox arrived the women
were exposed and exhausted
sitting up all night to
watch over their sleeping
children. The camp is said
to be secure, with some
medical facilities and an
adequate supply of food. The
skilled Scouts have created
a well managed situation
that Baden Powell himself
would have been proud of
with communal cooking and
ordered camp rules.
The Shelterbox SRT team have
investigated and identified
other areas that need help.
40 km North West of Nakuru
in Molo 15,000 displaced
people are living under the
stars in terrible conditions
with up to 2000 each sharing
one sanitary facility. The
rise in illness such as
respiratory infections due
to exposure is mounting
hourly. Shelterbox has
responded by sending another
200 boxes.
|
|
Canadian SRT Report from
Bangladesh
Ron
Noseworthy from Kenora, Ontario
has sent this report about his
SRT experience in Bangladesh.
Cyclone Sidr, a category 4
cyclone swept across the Bay of
Bengal and hit the southern
coast of Bangladesh on Nov.
15/07. The
resulting 15' storm surge did
tremendous damage.
Reports indicate that
approximately 560,000 homes were
totally destroyed, another
900,000 were damaged, close to
3,500 people killed and 8.9
million people displaced.
Add to this the fact that
Bangladesh is an extremely poor
country with minimal, poorly
constructed housing and a
picture emerges of mass
destruction along the southern
coast and in land from the delta
rivers.
ShelterBox responded quickly,
following the cyclone, moving
224 boxes into Bangladesh which
were stored at Dubai for just
such an emergency. Since then
another 800 boxes have been sent
to the southern disaster zone,
distributed by 3 previous SRTs.
With the deployment of
200 boxes by our team, the total
number of Shelterboxes sent to
Bangladesh is now 1,224.
In the two months since
Sidr, people
are in the recovery and
rebuilding stage.
Accordingly, ShelterBox
HQ decided not to send tents in
this shipment, but rather fill
the boxes with tools, stoves,
blankets and various supplies to
help in the reconstruction
stage. The
contents of each of our 200
boxes were designed to be shared
with 2 groups; we therefore
distributed supplies to 396
families (2 school boxes were
included).
I
arrived in Dhaka on Jan. 10.
Previous reports
indicated that the area of
greatest need was in the
Patharghata Division.
Two SRT's headed south to
that area on Jan. 11 to do an
assessment survey to determine
who were most in need, the best
distribution points and means of
transportation.
Two of us remained in Dhaka to
work with local Rotarian Ahmed
Faroque, to arrange import tax
exemptions, customs clearance
and transportation for the
boxes. We
made all the arrangements that
we could, prior to the arrival
of the boxes, but the important
Ministry of Food & Disaster
Management (MFDM) required the
original Bills of Lading, before
they would grant import tax
exemption.
|
|
Zambian Floods
Shelterbox
camp
at Kazungula for
displaced flood families
February
4th - Kazungola, Zambia:
A three man
Shelterbox Response Team have
delivered 200 boxes into Zambia
following the Southern Provinces
heaviest rain fall since 1958. The
rains caused thousands of homes to
collapse or be washed away.
Shelterbox responded by setting up a
camp at Kuzungola and are awaiting
more news from the SRT's on the
ground.
|
Boy Scouts
January
22nd - Nukuru Stadium, Kenya:
International Scouts are thanked
for all their hard work from
everyone at Shelterbox. A
further 200 boxes are arriving
today to assist with the new
camp being established by
Response Team members Mike
Greenslade & Ray Filbey from
Truro, Cornwall, UK. Amongst
this next consignment are
'thank-you back-packs' for the
Scouts similar to the kit packs
our own SRT's rely on for
survival in a disaster
situation.
|
ShelterBoxes being delivered in
Bangladesh.
The
boxes arrived Jan. 12 and we
immediately proceeded with final
clearance requirements.
We were delayed because
of
the
security closure on Jan.13 of
the MFDM for a Minister's visit,
the unavailability of the Joint
Secretary (necessary signature)
until late on Jan. 14 and
excessive time required to
circumvent a regulation that did
not permit school supplies to be
classified as emergency
supplies. We
had 4 transport trucks waiting
at the airport when our customs
agent, Nazim Khan, cleared the
final documents just before
17:00 on Jan. 15.
The trucks were loaded
immediately and departed for
Patharghata.
The reconnaissance team had
decided on one distribution
point, a large field at
the edge of the town.
They had issued
certificates to 396 families to
be presented when claiming their
supplies. We
were advised that we could not
distribute hatchets and that
water purification tablets were
not needed, so we removed them
with the help of hired locals
and began distribution of the
boxes & supplies at 12:30 on
Jan. 16. We
assigned two families to each
box; they gave their thumb print
as a signature and were
instructed to evenly share the
contents of the boxes.
The navy was on hand for
crowd control; the distribution
was orderly.
One school box was given to a
children's group compound, near
the distribution location and we
delivered the second to a school
on the outskirts of the town.
As indicated, I spent all of my
time in Dhaka except for the
travel time and one day of
distribution in Patharghata and
accordingly my comments reflect
these experiences:
- The help of local Rotarian
Ahmed Faroque was invaluable in
guiding us through the
complicated maze of paper work,
required signatures and red tape
necessary to clear the boxes and
avoid the import taxes.
It reinforces the
importance of establishing
knowledgeable contacts in the
field and again Rotary was the
means to this end.
-
It was inspirational to see that
these people, who have been
through so much and have so
little, do not to give up and
are determined to carry on.
This is where ShelterBox
is so effective, initially
providing them with basic
shelter, supplies and tools to
allow them the dignity of
rebuilding their own lives.
You could see it in their
eyes.
Ron Noseworthy
|
|
|
Bahla,
Holmes,
Prodan
family |
448 |
|
RCVancouver
Fraserview |
449 |
|
Members of
The Rotary
Club of
Duncan |
450 |
|
Members of
Rotary Club
of South
Cowichan (MillBay) |
451 |
|
RC
Whitehorse
Rendezvous |
452 |
|
RC Sioux
Lookout |
453 |
|
RC Dauphin |
454 |
|
RossHarwood |
455 |
|
RCChesterville
&
DaveHallett |
456 |
|
Bearspaw
Lions Club,
Calgary |
457, 458,
459, 460,
461, 462,
463, 464,
465, 466 |
|
Members of
the Rotary
Club of
Campbell
River
Daybreak |
467, 468,
469, 470 |
|
RC Waterloo |
471, 472,
473 |
|
RC Richmond
Sunrise |
474, 475,
476 |
|
Rotary
Clubs
& Rotarians
|
477, 478 |
|
|
Los Angeles
Convention
ShelterBox will
have a large display at the
Rotary International convention
in Los Angeles in June. Hope to
see many of you there. Stop by
to meet the people from
ShelterBox Canada, and of course
the founder of ShelterBox, Tom
Henderson.
|
|
Calgary Lions Sponsor
ShelterBoxes
Calgary's ShelterBox
Ambassador Alexis Beddoe from the RC
of Fish Creek is shown accepting a
cheque for $12000 from the Bearspaw
Lions President George Kuss, while
District Governor John Watson looks
on. Missing from the picture is
Roger Pilkington from the Lions who
spearheaded this cooperative venture
between Lions and Rotarians. |
Ron Noseworthy from Kenora
helping to distribute boxes in
Bangladesh this January.
|
|
|
|
|
|