David Eby reflects on his experience delivering aid in Myanmar one year ago after the devastation caused by a category 4 storm. Attached please find a photo of a tent city dubbed “Three Mile Camp” set up by ShelterBox.
May 02, 2009: One year ago a category 4 storm tore through Myanmar destroying everything in its path, within 24 hours ShelterBox had response team members (SRT’s) on their way to deliver aid David Eby, an SRT who was part of the team delivering aid in Myanmar, had this to say when asked about his experience there: “As we got closer to ground zero the magnitude of devasta-tion increased exponentially. Where there was once life, community, family… was now noth-ing less than confusion and heaping piles of debris where local villages had simply been erased from the map.”
ShelterBox is thought to have been the first aid agency to enter Myanmar, and to this date it remains one of the largest deployments of the organization. It is estimated that 150,000 died and over 2 million were left homeless. ShelterBox sent more than 2,000 ShelterBoxes to Myanmar, providing shelter for over 25,000 survivors.
ShelterBoxes can be sponsored by anyone for $1000.00, or in part with a donation of any amount. Each ShelterBox contains a 10-person tent, blankets, water purification and cooking equipment, basic tools, a stove and other essential equipment. Every box is individually num-bered and can be tracked by donors.
For more information on the work ShelterBox does around the world please visit www.shelterboxusa.org.
About ShelterBox
ShelterBox USA, Lakewood Ranch, FL is the national affiliate of charity ShelterBox Trust, head-quartered in Cornwall, England. The US affiliate raises funds for ShelterBoxes to be used in dis-aster relief efforts around the world.
ShelterBox is an international disaster relief charity, and a global Rotary club project, which exists to provide humanitarian aid worldwide in the form of shelter, warmth and dignity for people displaced by natural and other disasters.
An initiative of Rotarian Tom Henderson, a former Royal Navy search and rescue diver, Shel-terBox started in 2000 as a project of the Rotary Club of Helston-Lizard, Cornwall. ShelterBox, now the largest Rotary Club project in the world, has raised over $37 million and responded to over 80 major disasters including the Indian Ocean Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar (Burma) and has operated in 57 countries.
Each ShelterBox contains a 10-person tent, blankets, water purification and cooking equip-ment, basic tools, a stove and other essential equipment. Every box is individually numbered and can be tracked by donors. Each box costs $1000.00– including the cost of all materials, packing, storage, transport worldwide and distribution to the needy. Best value is achieved by working closely with leading suppliers, all items being obtained at below trade price. Assuming six month’s use, this equates to shelter and warmth for less than 30 pence per person per day.
All aid delivery is undertaken by international volunteer ShelterBox Response Team members who have carried out extensive training with ShelterBox. By working with local Rotary clubs in the countries where disasters have occurred, ShelterBox is often able to get aid where it is needed faster than any other organization.
