The ShelterMaker Challenge

It’s the fort that counts

The ShelterMaker Challenge

Coronavirus is affecting every aspect of our lives. All over the world, families with children are having to come up with creative and fun ways to keep busy – and keep in touch with loved ones – while remaining safely at home.

Need something constructive to do? Encourage the mini monsters in your life to become ShelterMakers. All you need to do is work together to build the perfect den and share it.

Here's how:

Step one: Design your shelter

Are you thinking inside or outside? Sheets or sofa cushions? Where are you going to keep the snacks? Give it a bit of thought and then get making.

Step two: Build your shelter

We have a guide to shelter construction right here that you may wish to consult: See a shelter, make a shelter.

Step three: Take a photo

We want to see what your finished creation looks like, so share it on social media with the hashtag #sheltermakers

Step four: Nominate new ShelterMakers

Choose a couple of people you love who are up for some fun, and get them to build and share their own.

Step five: Make a donation

If you’d like to be a literal ShelterMaker for families around the world, please consider donating. And if you feel like taking things up a notch, why not hide inside your hidden fortress for a sponsored stay-in?

ShelterMakers of the world unite

Take a look at some of the dens your fellow ShelterMakers have created! Don’t forget to tag us on social media so we can include your shelters too!

#sheltermakers

ShelterMaker Hall of Fame: Hadija

In Kenya, shelters are built by the women, or in many cases girls. When we met 15-year-old Hadija Elema in 2018, she had been building shelters for three years.

She could erect one of these sturdy structures in half a day, her fingers expertly securing the palm twine around the joins of the branches. She was taught the technique by her grandmother Halima and Mother Zeinab, a tradition handed down through the maternal generations.

Caryl - Dominica

Determination is one when you are desperate, you had to learn. I had to mix concrete. I mixed concrete like I had never mixed before!

Caryl lost her home to Hurricane Maria. While staying in a ShelterBox tent she rebuilt her home one concrete brick at a time.

Cecilio - Paraguay

I paid close attention during the training to ensure that I could make the appropriate repairs to my home, so it lasts longer and remains stronger the next time the floods comes.

Cecilio’s home was damaged due to flooding in Paraguay. He used tools and materials provided by ShelterBox to rebuild his home.

Donate

Now it's your turn! Get started on your shelter today

Don't forget to tag us on social media so we can include your shelters too!

#sheltermakers