January – March 2007: Kenya and Bolivia floods
New team arrives in Bolivia
28th March - Bolivia: A second ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) has today arrived in Trinidad, capital of one of the areas worst-hit by the ongoing flooding.
ShelterBox has so far sent tents for 6,000 people to Bolivia but is warning that the flooding situation is far from over. Photographer Mark Pearson reports that flood waters that had covered the south of the Amazonian region are now starting to flow north, threatening new areas.
The second SRT is being led by Joe Cannon, a veteran of numerous ShelterBox deployments. With him are: Ian Neale, a Cornwall-based firefighter; Craig Lewis, a horticulturalist from the Eden Project; and Spanish-speaker Lucy Batchelor.
Joe said: “The first part of our work will be organising the distribution of the second 200 boxes sent from the UK. We’re also planning on carrying out a reconnaissance of the area north of Trinidad.
“The whole Beni region, of which Trinidad is the capital has been very badly hit by the floods and we hear that there are large number of people who have been driven off their land sheltering in the town of Santa Ana Del Yucuma.”
Support for Mines Awareness Trust
20th March - Kenya: The Mines Awareness Trust (MAT) has been given 40 ShelterBoxes to support their work in East Africa.
MAT teams travel the region to train local people in how to detect and remove unexploded ordnance in areas where conflicts have taken place. The teams will be able to use the ShelterBox tents and equipment while they are carrying out their training.
The boxes and their contents will then be passed on to local people once the training has taken place. For more information about the work of MAT visit www.minesawareness.org
More boxes on their way
20th March - Bolivia: Another 200 ShelterBoxes are currently en route from Miami to Bolivia and a further 200 are awaiting collection from ShelterBox HQ.
The next boxes are expected to be flown to Santa Cruz, another of the areas badly affected by the recent severe flooding. A second ShelterBox Response Team is due to fly out to the region within the next week to oversee the distribution of tents and other aid to those in need.
Agencies join forces for huge aid project
14th March - Bolivia: ShelterBox has joined forces with Oxfam, the Samaritans and Rotary International in what is believed to be the biggest humanitarian aid project ever undertaken in Bolivia.
More than two months of extreme weather have led to devastating floods across the landlocked South American country, where an estimated 350,000 people have been driven from their homes and farmland. One of the worst hit provinces is Trinidad, where tents sent by ShelterBox are now being used in a huge camp set up in partnership with Oxfam and the Samaritans.
Mark Smith, who led a ShelterBox Response Team to Bolivia, said: “This is a major exercise. Oxfam are dealing with issues like sanitation, security and food, while the Samaritans are undertaking to provide 40,000 litres of clean water per day. Oxfam will also be working on long-term reconstruction but for now we need the ShelterBox tents to house these people. By the time it’s finished, this camp will easily be the biggest in Bolivia’s history.”
ShelterBox is currently working with Oxfam and Rotary International to fly more tents to Bolivia. Operations manager George Armstrong said: “We will continue to review the situation. There’s a massive problem in Bolivia. It’s not a wealthy country anyway but those who have lost their homes are mostly poor families from rural areas who have been left with nothing but the clothes on their backs.
“Our resources are not unlimited though and we need continued public support in order to be able to get aid to the victims of the flooding.”
Worst floods in 25 years
5th March - Bolivia: Tents for 2,000 people are on their way to help some of the thousands of Bolivians left homeless after the worst floods to hit the country in 25 years.
Around 35 people were killed and homes over a wide area have been abandoned after heavy rains caused devastating flooding across the eastern half of the South American country.
An estimated 350,000 people have been affected by the flooding and a national state of emergency declared. One city, Trinidad, is currently totally cut off and the Bolivian government has emergency plans to evacuate the 90,000-plus inhabitants if water levels keep on rising. The floods have also hit a number of other Bolivian provinces. In Santa Cruz an estimated 900,000 acres (375,000 hectares) of crops have been destroyed.
A consignment of 200 ShelterBoxes – containing tents, blankets and mosquito nets – has been sent following contact with local Rotarians and Bolivia’s Ministry of National Defense. The boxes were initially flown via Florida and are now on their way to Bolivia, where the country’s air force had promised to assist with delivering the aid to affected areas.
ShelterBoxes are the way forward for camel library!
6th February - Kenya: Empty ShelterBoxes have found a new use in Kenya – as delivery containers for a camel-back library service!
The charity sent 300 tents to the Garissa area of northern Kenya after hundreds of homes were washed away when the River Tana burst its banks. Now, the green boxes have been passed on to the Kenya Library Service for a mobile library service that uses teams of camels to deliver books to poor villages across a 100-mile radius.
ShelterBox photographer Mark Pearson said: “The camels travel up to 20 kilometres a day across a very poor rural area where illiteracy is around 80%. They were using wooden boxes to transport the books and, having set up the tents for the flood victims, we’ve given the library service 25 empty ShelterBoxes.
“Our boxes are tough plastic and much lighter than the wooden crates they were using. They’re also bigger, which means the camels can carry many more books.”
ShelterBox creates new villages for African flood victims
30th January - Kenya: Tents sent by ShelterBox have been used to create two new villages for families left homeless by floods in Kenya’s northern Garissa district. The charity flew 300 tents to Kenya after flash floods destroyed hundreds of homes just before Christmas.
Now, the tents have been used to create two permanent new villages – Adele and Ziwani – on higher ground above the banks of the Tana River, where the families will be safe from any future flooding.
Following the creation of the ShelterBox villages, water supplies have been installed and the French Red Cross has set up a clinic. The Kenyan Government has also given the land to the people, meaning they will be able to rebuild permanent homes on the new sites.
Hundreds of extra mosquito nets were also sent to help the flood victims combat malaria and the deadly Rift Valley disease.
ShelterBox team leader Joe Cannon said that the tents, which have built-in mosquito mesh, had made an enormous improvement to conditions for the flood victims. “Until then, the only shelter these people had was crude shacks made out of branches and blankets and tarpaulins given out by other aid agencies – giving them little protection from the mosquitoes which carry these diesases.”
Another 448 ShelterBoxes have now arrived in Kenya by sea and 224 more are en route. It is expected that these will also be distributed in the Tana River area.
Challenge for all supporters
11th January - UK: ShelterBox is offering a perfect solution for anyone whose New Year’s Resolutions include getting fit and doing something to help others in 2007!
The charity has launched an adventure challenge that will give supporters a chance to see what it’s like having to deliver ShelterBoxes across difficult terrain (and in unpredictable weather).
Taking place on Dartmoor over 14th and 15th April 2007, the event – sponsored by Vango – will see teams of four navigating a 30-mile challenge course, carrying a 50kg ShelterBox loaded with everything needed to complete survive an overnight camp on the moor.
Space is limited to 50 teams and each team is asked to raise a minimum of £1,000 – the approximate cost of two ShelterBoxes. To register: visit www.shelterboxchallenge.com or call 01548 856117 for more information.
To coincide with the challenge, ShelterBox is also running a sponsored walk around Burrator Reservoir on Dartmoor on Sunday 15th April. How about helping us by setting up a walk in your area on the same date?
Boxes being distributed to flood victims
11th January - Kenya: Tents sent to help villagers who have lost their homes to flooding in northern Kenya are now leaving the capital Nairobi and will be distributed over the next few days by a ShelterBox Response Team.
Tents on way to flood victims
3rd January - Kenya: A consignment of 300 tents left Helston today in response to flooding in northern Kenya. Recent heavy rain has flooded many villages along the Tana River, forcing thousands of people to leave their homes. One village in need of help is Sama Sama, where the entire population has had to move to higher ground 2km away.
A ShelterBox Response Team visited the area in December while co-ordinating the distribution of the boxes sent previously for flood relief in southern Somalia.
Team leader Joe Cannon explained that although the 350 families from the village have basic facilities where they are now living, shelter is a real problem. He said: “The families have managed to recover their basic cooking equipment and other items from the village but are living in appalling conditions and their shelters at the moment are made from just tarpaulins and blankets.”
