Oswestry Cambrian, Borderland and Oswestry Rotary clubs, along with other Rotary clubs around the world support one of the biggest humanitarian organisation’s in the world that that originated as a Rotary project in Helston in Cornwall – Shelter Box!

Shelter Box is more often than not one of the first Non Government Organisation’s (NGO) into any natural, man-made disaster or conflict.

This week marks the grave milestone of 10 years of conflict in Syria. The Syrian crisis has been ShelterBox’s largest and most sustained response in our history.

Syria – Conflict Displacement. This week marks the grave milestone of 10 years of conflict in Syria. The Syrian crisis has been ShelterBox’s largest and most sustained response in our history. Heavy rainfall across Idlib in January caused severe flooding to internal displacement camps in Syria. The floodwater destroyed and damaged tents in the camps. Our partner Relief Aid conducted assessments across 27 camps, which showed that 45% of the families we supported in our winterisation project had in fact been impacted by the flooding. We have mobilised a response tailored to the needs of the damage caused by the floods and distributions were completed through our partner Relief Aid this month. The aid package being distributed includes items such as a blanket, carpet, solar light, mattress, tarpaulin, rope, water carrier, soap and a hand basin. All distributions of the 550 kits for the flooding response were completed in early March.

India – Flooding. Widescale flash flooding after torrential monsoon rains struck from June to October 2020 across India. One of the hardest hit regions was Odisha state. Many families in Odisha state were still recovering from the effects of Super Cyclone Amphan when the flash flooding caused more destruction to homes, public infrastructure and livelihoods. ShelterBox is partnering with Habitat for Humanity India in a joint response to the floods. The aid package distributed included items such as tarpaulin, rope, mosquito net, kitchen set, sleeping mats, bucket, face-masks, soap, handsaw, hammer and nails. All items to the 1850 households supported have now been successfully distributed. Alongside this all training to those receiving aid has also now been completed.

Cameroon – Conflict Displacement. Extremist attacks, severe weather conditions and the impact of coronavirus in the Lake Chad Basin have resulted in a dire humanitarian crisis in the Far North region of Cameroon. The area now hosts more than 114,000 refugees as well as 320,000 internally displaced people. We have been working with our trusted partner IEDA Relief to carry out projects both in Minawao Camp targeting refugees and off camp, mainly targeting internally displaced people. The current project also aims to support families with covid-19 mitigations by including the distribution of items such as soap and face masks. The ShelterBox team have been planning for the upcoming distributions and monitoring and evaluation activities before the project officially starts this month. The project aims to support a total of 5,280 households.

More information on Shelter Box and how you can contribute can be found at www.shelterbox.org.