NEWSLETTER
ISSUE 1 2014
WELCOME Here at ShelterBox, we like to think we share the same values as our supporters and donors. We are fortunate in being trusted by you to turn your time, effort and donations into practical help for people who have lost everything. Recently we considered what ShelterBox’s values are, and consulted our staff for their views. It was a very uplifting and interesting exercise. Somewhere between an advertising focus group and a set of new year resolutions - though I promise you we weren’t in search of a slogan! I thought you might be interested to see the words we chose as capturing the spirit of ShelterBox. The first key word was Respect. We want respect to be at the forefront of our decisions and actions. We value diversity and the empowerment of our beneficiaries, staff, volunteers and supporters. Secondly, Honesty and Integrity. Our actions and decisions are bound by ethical principles. We highly value trust and we strive to communicate clearly and truthfully. Next, we realise that ShelterBox must be Accountable, to its beneficiaries, donors, staff and its working partners. We are committed to using the resources entrusted to us wisely and efficiently, and we take responsibility for our decisions and actions. Finally, we must remain Resourceful. ShelterBox must always be adaptable, flexible and agile in its responses to changing situations, while always acting in the best interests of beneficiaries. Respect, honesty, integrity, accountability and resourcefulness. It is quite a list to live up to, but we know we should set the bar high when entrusted with such important work. I’ll add a word of my own – Gratitude. Gratitude for the warmth and generosity of those who support us, and for the professionalism and camaraderie of our staff and volunteers. I hope the following pages give you an insight into how we interpret these values, and reach out worldwide to families in need on your behalf.
Alison Wallace, Chief Executive, ShelterBox
CONTENTS PG 3 Sudan floods
PG 4 Around the world
PG 5 Introducing the SchoolBox PG 6 Quality first PG 7 Philippines PG 9 Syria
PG 11 Famous and generous PG 12 The challenge is on PG 13 How you can help
ShelterBoxes being transported to Kinartacan island. Philippines, November 2013
KEEP IN TOUCH:
T: 01326 569782 E: info@shelterbox.org ShelterBox: Water-ma-Trout, Helston, Cornwall, TR13 0LW Editor: Mark Nicholson (marknicholson@shelterbox.org) Front cover image: Jeremiah, his daughter Jingle Heart and their family have moved into a ShelterBox disaster relief tent. Philippines, November 2013. Charity No: 1096479 Company No: 4612652 President: HRH The Duchess of Cornwall ShelterBox is a Charity independent of Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation.
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SUDAN FLOODS
Clinging to a car roof in darkness for 12 hours
Flash floods, such as those which engulfed much of the White Nile river basin in Sudan, are so sudden they carve out wadis, or canyons in the desert. ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) member Richard Loat saw the devastation first hand, and said, ‘It looks more like a bomb has gone off than a flood has crashed through.’ Those who live on the Sudanese river plains traditionally build with sun-dried bricks, but these soon dissolved in up to two metres of flood water. Fatih Al-Rahman was eating his dinner late at night with his wife and five children, having just finished his day’s work as a taxi driver. They heard people screaming outside, saw water rising fast inside their courtyard, and escaped to the only secure place they could find – his car roof. Fatih saved his youngest children by carrying them on his shoulders, walking in water up to his neck. They all clung to the car roof for almost twelve hours in darkness before being rescued by boat the following day. Their home was totally destroyed. They had nothing left except each other.
SRT Jan Larsson said, ‘When we asked Fatih what his biggest wish for help was, he answered ‘a better shelter.’ This is the case for thousands of other families in Khartoum state, where almost half of the destroyed houses are in African countryside.’
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Over the months following the floods ShelterBox worked with partners Plan International to bring shelter to 1,000 families, as well as SchoolBoxes to help children resume their education.
Shelter for displaced Sudanese families in October 2013.
AROUND THE WORLD 2013 was a very testing year for the charity, with over 30 deployments to 20 different countries, responding to typhoons, cyclones, hurricanes, fires, flooding, earthquakes and conflict. Among the locations where ShelterBox has been at work:
NIGER: FLOODING
Scouts, the Red Cross, the Fire Brigade and Rotarians assisted a ShelterBox Response Team in Niger after widespread flooding in the Niamey region. ShelterBox also provided Lifestraws (water filters) to Oxfam to be used by thousands of people in Agadez who had been drinking out of polluted rivers.
NORTH KOREA: TYPHOON
ShelterBox has been helping homeless typhoon survivors in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), who are living in winterised ShelterBox tents to protect them against sub-zero temperatures.
PAKISTAN: EARTHQUAKE
A 7.7-magnitude tremor hit Pakistan’s Baluchistan province in September 2013, demolishing homes and with many casualties. ShelterBox sent stock prepositioned in Islamabad to the affected area within hours to be distributed to families. Another 7.2 quake hit in the same area a week later.
INTRODUCING THE SCHOOLBOX What’s this? A blue and red ShelterBox?! The familiar green box now has a clever new classmate, with a very important job to do. ShelterBox is all about helping displaced families – and that means the whole family. In the aftermath of a disaster children may appear resilient, but there can be underlying trauma. Basic schooling, however rudimentary, brings some sense of order and normality to disrupted young lives. So, in addition to our usual tents and equipment, ShelterBox now often deploys school equipment and stationery to disaster zones and refugee camps. First used in 2012 to help Syrian refugees, there are either distinctive yellow bags containing pens, paper and instruments, or red and blue SchoolBoxes containing everything you see here – including blackboard paint, calculators and wind-up radios.
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Young Syrian refugees receiving ShelterBox activity packs. Irbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, October 2013.
QUALITY FIRST ShelterBox is dedicated to delivering a quality aid package, so it is always looking for products that can deliver exactly what families need. Obviously weight and cost are part of the equation, but so are durability and userfriendliness. ShelterBox supply chain manager Shane Revill says, ‘We strive to be innovative and open to fresh ideas and at the same time want to maximise the use of our donors’ money.’ This year ShelterBox has been trying out a new solarpowered lamp, the Luminaid. Lighting is important for security and comfort, especially in disaster zones where power supplies may have been lost. We are also currently trying out a new water filter, the Thirst Aid Station, responding to feedback that previous water filter models were too complicated to use. Access to clean water is essential to combat disease after disaster strikes.
Everyone knows that Typhoon Haiyan was the fiercest storm the world has ever seen. What we didn’t know was how great a test this would be of our ability to help communities from shattered cities to remote A family sets up a home inislands. their ShelterBox tent. Philippines, December 2013
PHILIPPINES: TYPHOON HAIYAN
Baby Yole, a tribute to the storm that made a miracle out of destruction 195 mph Haiyan, and its subsequent 13 foot storm surge, bulldozed almost every building in its path on 8 November 2013. ShelterBox already had response teams in place in the Philippines on Bohol Island, helping to shelter communities struck by an earthquake the month before. It also had stocks of tents and ShelterBoxes already stockpiled in the Philippines at Clark on Luzon Island, and more on standby in Dubai, at Subang near Kuala Lumpur, and Melbourne in Australia. And teams of volunteers stood ready to pack yet more boxes at our Cornwall Headquarters in Helston. Our aid distribution experts arrived in shifts at Manila and Cebu airports, met with aid partners, then spread out across the islands to scope the worst-affected areas and find viable transportation routes. With over 60 ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) members deployed so far, and up to 20 in the Philippines at any time, this has been ShelterBox’s greatest manpower response to any single disaster.
Hazel, baby Yole and her husband call their Shelterbox tent ‘home’, Kinatarcan, Philippines, January 2014.
It wasn’t long before ShelterBox was able to make a firm commitment to help at least 7,800 families who had lost their homes, possessions and livelihoods.
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Now ShelterBox is several months into this aid programme. While the devastation is still evident in the city of Tacloban, the area hardest hit by Haiyan, families on the small island of Kinatarcan are nestling together in their ShelterBox tents, putting up picket fences and calling them ‘home’. ‘During the storm old folks cried, men were scared, mothers tried to protect their children as well as possible and babies were born,’ said Joewe C. Ilustrisimo, a Kinatarcan habitant who helped ShelterBox with aid distribution on the island. Yole was one of those babies born on the night of the storm. Her mother Hazel named her after Typhoon Yolanda, the local name for Haiyan, as a tribute to the storm that created a miracle out of destruction. The ShelterBox tent is more than just a tent to Hazel and her family. It’s Yole’s first home. She says, ‘We are so happy with the ShelterBox tent because when we came out of the midwife’s house we didn’t have a house anymore to go back to. Now this tent is our home.’
‘...when we came out of the midwife’s house we didn’t have a house anymore to go back to. Now this tent is our home.’ The interior is immaculate. The family have built a beautiful wooden bench for the tent, hung curtains to give Hazel some privacy while she is breastfeeding Yole, set up a neatly organised pantry for their food as well as a dresser with decorations and family mementos. Shoes are never allowed inside and the kids know they are not allowed to play in the tents. Many other families on the island follow suit and beautify their tents into real homes, knowing that it will take some time to rebuild their houses again.
SYRIA: CONFLICT
‘Our only hope for the future is to be able to return to our home country and live our life as it was before.’ The Syrian conflict, and its resultant refugee crisis, have been described as the world’s greatest humanitarian crisis. ShelterBox has sought to ease the suffering of refugees and the displaced by providing shelter from sweltering summers and freezing winters. The Syrian catastrophe is now of such epic proportions that the world is running out of superlatives, with the numbers of people fleeing their homes and homeland so vast they lack meaning. Millions are leading meagre existences in refugee camps or makeshift dwellings, neighbouring countries are near tipping point in their ability to offer sanctuary, and those still trapped within Syria’s borders are homeless and hidden from the outside world. But, thanks to our response teams and partners in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraqi-Kurdistan, and Syria itself, we have been able to provide shelter for thousands of these desperate families, and convey the message that the outside world has not abandoned them. In 2013 ShelterBox was the first international aid organisation to distribute relief tents to Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
Syrian refugees, Lebanon, March 2013
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Syrian children in the snow, Domiz refugee camp, Iraqi-Kurdistan
With so vast a story, the greatest insight often lies in individual tales and quiet voices. Meet 25-year-old Ahed Hussein Zeidan. Her eyes are full of sadness as she tells her story, sitting elegantly in her ShelterBox tent in Akaar, northern Lebanon. ‘We left our village in Syria one day in the early hours of the morning. We had felt unsafe in our home for a while with all the shelling that was happening in our area. It was a frightening journey here as we had to pass through several checkpoints, but we made it across the border late at night the same day, so it was a very long journey.’ Ahed is cradling her 4-month-old baby Omar. Either side of her are two of her three sisters who also live with her, one of whom is bouncing her own baby boy. Her brother in law is out working to raise enough money to rent the piece of land they have settled on.
Ahed Hussein Zeidan (middle) holding her baby, Omar, in her ShelterBox tent with her two sisters either side and niece, Akaar. Lebanon, November 2013.
‘When we arrived here we were living in an unfinished building, like lots of other families. However as winter approached it was freezing as there were no walls. It was not closed or sheltered. We lived there until we received a ShelterBox. We then found this land and set up the tent. We are so grateful for it.’ ‘This tent is closed so it is much better, protecting us all from the bad weather, the wind and rain. It’s much warmer and much better than the unfinished house. We are more comfortable and we feel safer and our children are safer.’ Despite the hardships that the Syrian refugee population face, thanks to your generous support more and more families have a shelter that they can call home for as long as it is needed. They will be safe, Photo Photo together and warm.
FAMOUS AND GENEROUS
ShelterBox is fortunate to have famous supporters and ambassadors, who give a celebrity sparkle to our fundraising. Left: Sir Ben Ainslie, Olympic sailor, helps pack ShelterBoxes for the Philippines, October 2013. Below: ShelterBox CEO Alison Wallace with ITV News presenter Mark Austin (left) and Sir Ben Ainslie at ICAP Charity Day Bottom row: Nature and adventure TV presenters (L to R) Monty Hall, Steve Backshall and Ben Fogle spoke at the ‘Go Wild for the Philippines’ event, December 2013
Corduroys
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ShelterBox’s President HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, celebrates her birthday with a special hamper, July 2013.
THE CHALLENGE IS ON
Registration is now open for one of the South West’s greatest annual outdoor events! The ShelterBox Dartmoor Challenge is an epic trek across the dramatic backdrop of Dartmoor National Park where teams of four must carry a loaded ShelterBox up to 30 miles over mixed terrain. The challenge, which will take place on 13th and 14th September, is both a spectacle and a test of endurance. Echoing the charity’s role – taking shelter and hope to families trapped in remote and hostile environments – this crosscountry hike offers everyone who takes part a feeling of real personal achievement, and a chance to support one of the UK’s most distinctive international charities.
Teams midway through the 2012 Dartmoor Challenge
Teams compete for points over a variable course where navigation, tactical decision making and team work will count as much as speed and endurance. For any teams courageous enough to push themselves harder for longer, there is the ‘Elite’ level – a course of around 45 miles across the two days, offering an even tougher challenge. To register or for more information about the event please go to dartmoorchallenge.org or telephone our Events Team on 01326 555127.
HOW YOU CAN HELP ShelterBox relies entirely on its volunteers, donors and supporters. There are many ways you can help our vital work, from fundraising to leaving a gift in your Will. Our Donations Hotline is 0300 0300 500, and there is a wealth of information at www.shelterbox.org Here we tell an inspiring story of one supporter who left ShelterBox a valuable legacy. Sheila Flindt of Bridport in Dorset died last year at the age of 90. A frequent donator to ShelterBox, Shelia was described as ‘a great admirer of your charity, and it was her wish that any surplus money from the estate should go to ShelterBox.’ Her friend Liz Hollinworth wrote to ShelterBox, ‘Sheila was my special friend. She had a wonderful sense of humour and was someone who demanded nothing for herself. In fact, for many years she was an Anglican Nun, working in a school in Sussex. She left there in the 70s, but still helped the elderly, and was warden of several alms houses always working above and beyond her duty. I will miss her enormously, and I know it will give her great pleasure to think there was sufficient in her funds to send ShelterBox a good amount.’ Sheila’s legacy helped provide desperately needed emergency shelter and aid for families in North Korea after a typhoon left thousands of families homeless.
We know that loved ones come first when making a Will, but once you have included the people you care about, you may want to remember the causes you care about. Gifts in Wills are a lasting way to support our work and can ensure we are ready to help families who need us, whenever and wherever disaster strikes. This includes pre-positioning aid in strategic locations across the world, training ShelterBox Response Team volunteers, and preparing enough stock for catastrophes, whatever the scale. For more information about leaving a gift to ShelterBox in your Will please get in touch with Franka Fueller on 01326 555124 or on frankaf@shelterbox.org
Children in a ShelterBox tent in an
n area struck by Typhoon Bolaven. North Korea, July 2013
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SHELTERBOX ONLINE SHOP Shop for great goods and gifts, and help to support our work at the same time. Visit shelterboxshop.org Items include:
ShelterBox hoody
£25.99
ShelterBox mug
£4.50
ShelterBox children’s book
£4.00
Our Global Gifts are ideal for anniversaries, birthdays, weddings or any other special event. Each Global Gift gift purchased comes with a gift card. from £12.00
TO MAKE A DONATION, EITHER:
• Complete the form and return to ShelterBox, Water-Ma-Trout, Helston, Cornwall, TR13 0LW • Call 0300 0300 500
• Or go online www.shelterbox.org/donate
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ShelterBox is a registered charity (1096479) and a limited company in England and Wales (4612652). President: HRH The Duchess of Cornwall. ShelterBox is a charity independent of Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation
To find out more about other ways of supporting ShelterBox, including making a regular gift, fundraising or leaving a gift in your Will, please contact us on 0300 0300 500 or go online www.shelterbox.org