ShelterBox in Gaza

After an initial assessment to establish whether there is an unmet need for aid in the form of tents and equipment in Gaza, ShelterBox have sent 200 boxes to Beit Lahia, one of the worst affected areas north of Gaza City. It is estimated that 50,000 Gazans have been made homeless by the current conflict with at least 4,000 buildings destroyed and over 20,000 severely damaged. At the start of the week the UN upgraded the need for shelter, tools, blankets and sleeping bags from priority 4 to priority 1 and it is believed that in Beit Lahia, there are only 100 emergency tents available while the need exceeds 1,000.

Mark Pearson, head of the ShelterBox Response Team has reported from Gaza Occupied Palestinian Territories on the established need for boxes and the progress to date. "We have excellent contacts on the ground in Gaza with UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency)PRCS (Palestinian Red Crescent Society)and ACTED (Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development) who have offered to act as consignee for the packed aid currently at ShelterBox HQ." Additionally ShelterBox has received support from Egyptian Rotary members who are now assisting with the deployment by helping to open channels through Egypt.

One ACTED staff member working alongside ShelterBox said, "It's made me so happy to know about ShelterBox's efforts, believe me this is exactly what hundreds of homeless families are in dire need for, especially when you know that such families live and sleep in the open air next to their destructed houses. Such boxes which include tents, sleeping bags and toolkits will be the first to enter Gaza."

ShelterBox General Manager Lasse Petersen confirms that the aid shipment of vital disaster relief aid to Gaza is ready to be shipped and all paperwork is finalized.

ShelterBox Response Team member and French Rotarian John Diksa, who is currently in Cairo, said, "Rotary clubs in Grenoble and Reims just launched a ShelterBox affiliate in France, so we are delighted that 30 of the first 200 boxes to be delivered to homeless families in Gaza are sponsored by French Rotarians."

Somaliland

ShelterBox Response Team member Mike Greenslade reports to HQ that tent distribution and training continues in Hargeisa with 480 tents issued to Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) families living in and around the capital.

ShelterBox Response Team members and local volunteers have erected over 250 new Africa tents, at two completed campsites named 'Kood-Buur' and '26th June'. Newly trained teams of local volunteers continue to build two further camps; 'Mohammed Haybe' and 'Ahmed Dhagax'.

Mike comments, "Distribution has gone smoothly with those allocated a tent receiving a numbered ticket which they exchange in the grounds of the Ministry of RRR. Reserve tents have been issued to the elderly and disabled, who receive no state support, living outside the camps on a discretionary basis."

The third ShelterBox Response Team consisting of Adrian Sumner and Jens Pagotto from the UK and Mark Dyer from the USA will now oversee the completion of 'Haybe' and 'Dagax' camps and the distribution, training and fulfillment of the large 'Ga'an Libah' camp.

Mike adds, "There has been a lot of hard work from all parties involved and it's been immensely satisfying to be able to help such warm and welcoming people. For some, this has been the first outside aid they've received. Somaliland's low national budget means that there is no safety net for the vulnerable, and there are thousands more needy IDP's spread throughout the country. I'm sure ShelterBox would be welcomed back with open arms."

Contact Us
don@shelterbox.ca
shelterbox.ca/index.html
1272 Mysty Woods
Victoria, BC V8Y 3G6
1 800 677 0990
FAx: 250 595 5984

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