May 9th - Myanmar: ShelterBox can confirm we have successful delivered over £300,000 worth of survival aid - however much more is needed. ShelterBox plans to charter an airplane to get a further 1000 boxes to the desperate people of Burma in the worst hit areas and much more as the donations come in. As one of the first Aid Organisations into the country who also obtained visas and a clear and helpful path from the Embassy ShelterBox is in an ideal position help.
May 8th - Myanmar: ShelterBox team of four response members are safely on the ground, the boxes have been located at the airport and at first light the SRT's will be assessing the much needed distribution.
May 7th - Myanmar: Cyclone Nargis in the Irrawaddy Delta on Saturday is now reported to have killed close to 22,500 and left 41,000 missing. ShelterBox today responses by continuing to pack a further 200 boxes bringing the total number of tents to 1044 - the team of four ShelterBox Response Team members are on their way.
May 6th - Myanmar (Burma): ShelterBox responds immediately to the devastating cyclone to hit Myanmar. 22,000 lives are reported to have been lost and 95% of houses are destroyed as the cyclone swept in-land after several days at sea. 224 boxes left from the pre-positioned site in Dubai over the weekend, 220 boxes have left from Melbourne, Australia and a further 200 boxes with two tents each were packed this morning at the ShelterBox HQ in Helston, Cornwall. A team of four SRT members are making arrangements to assist with the difficult distribution of vital aid.
Ecuador experiences a giant landslide of mud and rocks...
A rope slung from one side of the ravine to the other at 3,000m is the only line of communication for a village cut off by a devastating landslide with many fatalities, to the right of the picture is a man on a seat crossing the opening.
April 17th - 24th, Ecuador: ShelterBoxes reached a remote and forgotten area of Ecuador called Loja. SRT members Carol & Shaun Halbert travelled to this once tranquil high-altitude mountain village now wiped out by powerful landslides to deliver much needed aid. Houses that once clung to the picturesque sloping hills had been completely washed away in a river of mud and rocks. No help had been given to these villagers who had been cut off from the open ravine created by the slide. Despite their tragic circumstances the local community rallied to demonstrate their appreciation by presenting the ShelterBox Response Team with one mountain flower for each tent erected. As news spread it was decided by the SRT's on the ground that six more boxes could reach a small group in a desperate situation a further 80 kilometres higher in the scared village of El Cisne 3,000m above sea level.
Bolivian teenagers shuttle boxes across a flooded river...
Boxes being transported across a flooded river North of Santa Cruz, Bolivia to isolated families.
April 17th - Bolivia: ShelterBox's SRT members are now safely home and have confirmed the successful delivery of 200 boxes distributed to the areas in most need 100kms North of Santa Cruz.
Encouraging messages from South America...
April 8th - Bolivia: Communication from this area is difficult but our ShelterBox Response Team (comprising of UK's Shaun Halbert & Tom Lay and US John Mackie) have been spotted carrying out the safe delivery of aid by a medical student Sara Jalali who writes to us, "One of the biggest challenges I felt while in Bolivia was providing medical care may sometimes only be a temporary fix, without larger structural changes these peoples' lives will not get better. What you guys do, however, provides realistic, sustainable tools to maintain health and safety. I want to thank you for doing what you do in the world. I really admire the work and the mission."
April 8th - Afghanistan: Anticipated floods will follow the heavy winter snowfall. ShelterBox remains on alert for a return visit to distribute a further 200 boxes when needed.
April 7th - Swaziland: Larry Agee US SRT leader, Carol Halbert & Rachael Rodda have all returned safely from their deployment to Swaziland where they helped deliver aid to the Aids Orphan population.
March 11th - Ecuador: Since December Ecuador has experienced it's heaviest rains in 25 years, leading to swelling rivers and devastating floods. Disasters relating to 'la Nina' have effected 3.5 million people with the worst hit area being the coastal regions and especially provinces such as Los Rios - ShelterBox has responded by sending a ShelterBox Response Team and 200 boxes.
Much needed aid is welcomed in Afghanistan...
March 10th - Kabul: 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 Bagram Airport, Kabul, Afghanistan on Sunday 9th March, 2008. (Picture By Mark Pearson/ShelterBox).
Afghan women & children captured on film during the arrival of aid.
Little infant holding onto her box (above)
A family can now begin to make a home...
A successful mission - at home...
March 5th - Helston: Back at Helston HQ, the latest nine day ShelterBox Response Team training course was completed two days ago. This training course was the most comprehensive run yet with 'trainers' from Vango, DHL, and Culdrose military personnel along with ShelterBox staff and existing SRT's. Eleven new SRT's completed the course and now look forward to the opportunity to deploy with our existing SRT volunteers.
Successful candidates with Ed Cox ShelterBox Training Manager.
February 27th - Kabul, Afghanistan: In Kabul, Shelterbox meets with the Ministry of Refugees and working alongside ACTED (Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development) 358 families will each recieve a ShelterBox providing, warmth, shelter and dignity. 55 of the families identified were living in the open in the sub-zero conditions...
A little child treading carefully across the snow, ice & mud...
A year to the day, aid leaves for 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.
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.
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.
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.
February 15th - Swaziland: ShelterBox has visited camps that received aid last year in the St Philips area. The recipients of the boxes were very pleased with the content and quality of the ShelterBox they received. ShelterBox Response Team members also assessed a school with major damage, for the distribution of School in a Box this weekend.
-30 degrees, covered in snow, wet and homeless in Afghanistan...
February 15th - Kabul: ShelterBox's experienced SRT member & photo-journalist, Mark Pearson, has been making an intrepid expedition over the last two days 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 was the worst in 60 years with many fatalities. He met many of the displaced families from the Helmand Province 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" he added "there is always so much more to do in the regions but with these terrible weather conditions even the city is affected." Local people were helping with what little they had. ShelterBox HQ is actively packing up vital aid of tents and warmth to be sent over the next few days. Additional SRT members will join Mark in-field with the army to make further assessments.
Families huddle with little or no shelter...
What would normally be an idyllic scene - the depth is as high as the pole...
February 8th - Mozambique: A consignment of 170 boxes containing tents and equipment leaves the ShelterBox HQ today making its way to Mozambique to assist with the devastating floods seen recently on World news. Many homes and schools were lost to the flood water across Southern Africa. Along with the supply of temporary shelter five 'Schools in a Box' will arrive, giving the children the vital opportunity to regain stability.
A ShelterBox camp for African families effected by flood...
February 6th - Copperbelt, Zambia: Team leader Lasse Patersen returns for Zambia after a successful distribution in the Southern Provinces of Zambia around Livingstone, Kazungula and Sesheke. Two USA Shelterbox team member, Mike Freeman & Wayne Robinson today will deliver the remaining boxes in Zambia's Copperbelt region around Ndola.
A proud ShelterBox owner begins to rebuild his home...
ShelterBox camp at Kazungula for displaced flood families
Flooded homes in Kassaye, Zambia
Zambia experiences heaviest rain fall since 1958...
February 4th - Kazungula, 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 Kuzungula and are awaiting more news from the SRT's on the ground.
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