This is the next edition of the ShelterBox diaries, led by TexMex, to provide a place for those who want to donate to the ShelterBox effort, now helping out in both Haiti and Chile (and Peru and Uganda). So far the DKos community has contributed over $130,000, enough to purchase 130 ShelterBoxes, providing high-quality shelter, with privacy and dignity, to 1300 people. We are making slow but steady progress toward 131. Here is the donation link where you can help out, if you're so inclined, and other links to give you more information and a sense of the good that ShelterBox is doing.
Here is the Secure donation page
https://app.etapestry.com/...
ShelterBox home page
http://shelterbox.org/
ShelterBoxUSA page
http://www.shelterboxusa.org/
Canada ShelterBox
http://www.shelterbox.ca/
To find out more about how you can help, follow along to the rest of the diary below.
At present, there are still matching funds available to match your donations! In fact, right now, you can turn $5 into $30, or $10 into $40 (only for the next donor, though, as two of the matches are running out). See the comments below for details.
These diaries now are being posted only twice a week, on Tuesday and Friday mornings, rather than daily. We will continue to monitor the latest diary for donations in between those days.
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So far, more than 10,000 ShelterBoxes have been sent to Haiti, with hundreds more on the way.
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An update from Haiti (in case you think the need for ShelterBoxes and tents has passed):
‘The need in Haiti remains huge. All the SRT members working in Haiti have done, and are doing, an incredible job. The feedback we’ve had from the other agencies we’ve been working with has been extremely positive and encouraging. More importantly, the impact ShelterBox is having on the lives of Haitian people is huge.’
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Here's a nice example of how the ShelterBox effort is changing to meet the needs in Haiti as time goes by.
ShelterBox provides help for folks leaving hospitals in Haiti
The IOM Migration Health Unit this week launched the Assisted Patient Discharge, Transfer and Return Programme to help patients who are medically ready to leave hospital for home and/or rehabilitation care, but are considered vulnerable and in need of assistance with community reintegration in the Port-au-Prince area.
With funding from USAID's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), the one year programme will decongest crowded hospitals and link newly discharged patients with emergency shelter, social support, and ongoing health care services.
[snip…]
The most vulnerable earthquake survivors-including amputees, women/single-headed households, persons with disabilities, pregnant and post-partum women, children under the age of 5, the elderly and those with special needs-need assistance to move from the overcrowded hospitals and rehabilitation centres to their communities, homes and internally displaced settlements.
"The patients we serve are those who simply have no place to go from the hospital. In order to restart their lives, they need help arranging basic shelter and accessing medical care," says Patrick Duigan, Head of IOM Health Unit in Haiti.
Such is the case of Clerette Antoine, a 76 year old woman whose home collapsed during the earthquake, killing her sister and three year old granddaughter. Ms. Antoine was briefly trapped in the rubble of her home, breaking multiple ribs. She was admitted to the Hôpital de l'Université d'État d'Haïti, where she received rehabilitation care. She has been medically ready for discharge for weeks, but remained in the hospital along with her sister and nephew as all are homeless and have nowhere to go. Their only option is moving into one of the spontaneous settlements in Port au Prince.
IOM and its partners have provided Ms. Antoine and her family a sturdy ShelterBox tent, kitchen kit, hygiene kit and cots. IOM caseworkers connected Ms. Antoine with a distant relative who is able to make room for her tent on his property. IOM will continue to provide medications and transport to rehabilitation services to Ms. Antoine after her discharge from hospital.
Read the full article from IOM.
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Here's an interesting update showing more of the role of the ShelterBox response teams (SRT), and indicating how they are involving the locals in helping with the shelter effort.
An update from ShelterBox team in Haiti…
From SRT member Phil Duloy in Haiti: 'I've been working with a Haitian businessman to make 1000s of relief tents that'll be made of locally sourced materials and sewn here.Also helping Handicap International to retrofit our tents for use by people in wheelchairs,on crutches,amputees and the blind.Now it's off to set up another camp with IOM for 50 families in Port-au-Prince.
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With the 8.8 magnitude earthquake that hit Chile just weeks after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, and with the recent large aftershocks continuing, ShelterBox has responded with continuing aid to Chile, even while their efforts in Haiti are ongoing:
1,000 ShelterBoxes en route to Chile.
With strong aftershocks still a regular occurrence nearly a fortnight after the disaster, ShelterBox workers on the ground have been assessing areas of greatest need in the Talca region, north of the worst-affected city, Concepcion.
[snip…]
The 1,000 ShelterBoxes – providing enough aid for up to 10,000 people - have come from prepositioned stock in Melbourne, Singapore and Dubai as well as from ShelterBox HQ in Cornwall, UK. ShelterBox has a network of strategic locations around the globe where boxes are stored to allow a speedy response to disasters wherever they strike.
On arrival in Santiago the boxes will be transported by road to Talca with help from shipping company DHL.
SRT member Tom Lay said: ‘There is massive damage in the region of Talca and a lot of buildings are just gone. We’ve identified rural communities in the towns of Curepto, Villa Prat and Curico which were hit by the quake and suffered devastation, but are at the bottom of the list in terms of getting aid, so we’re making sure these communities get emergency shelter as quickly as possible.
Some of the devastation in Chile
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What's in a ShelterBox?
Each “ShelterBox” supplies an extended family of up to 10 people with a tent and lifesaving equipment to use while they are displaced or homeless. The contents are tailored depending on the nature and location of the disaster, with great care taken sourcing every item to ensure it is robust enough to be of lasting value. Highly trained ShelterBox Response Teams distribute boxes on the ground, working closely with local organizations, international aid agencies and Rotary clubs worldwide.
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Where do the tents come from?
Our rugged dome tents are a unique ShelterBox design that has evolved as the result of years of experience in countries around the world.
Modelled on a typical African bush hut, the tents have been successfully stood up to snowfalls in the mountains of Kashmir, tropical downpours in Indonesia and the intense sunlight of Kenya and surrounding countries.
The tents have built in mosquito screens, integral groundsheets, good ventilation, internal privacy screens. We have also developed a heavy-duty flysheet that can prolong the life of the tent by eight to 10 months by protecting it from the UV damage caused by intense tropical sun.
ShelterBox continues to research ways of improving its tents and is currently looking at ideas such as a thermally insulated inner tent.
The tents are currently made in China and supplied by the Scottish company Vango.
A special arrangement with Vango allows us to keep sufficient tents in stock to house 25,000 people. These tents are supplied on credit and held ‘in bond’ ready to be released as and when funds are available – greatly increasing our ability to respond to major disasters.
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Here is a camp of ShelterBox tents set up in Haiti:
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How can you help? We want to make this easy so here's what you do (h/t Bugsby):
- Use one of the links at the top of this diary to get to a donation page. For on-line donations, there are two places to acknowledge Daily Kos: the "In Honor of" section, or the Comments box further down. You can do either or both.
- Once your donation has been made, come back here and post a comment at the bottom of the thread so we can add the donation to the Daily Kos total. Please put the dollar amount in the subject line to help us find it easier. That way we can give you mojo for your gift and confirm any matching funds. ;)
- People who don't want to report publicly, or who don't have a Daily Kos account (hi, lurkers!), can always email TexMex, or carolina stargazer, who will then report the amounts for them (anonymously if desired.) To find those email addresses click the user name in orange anywhere in the diary, or in the user profile.
Now suppose you've got some money you'd like to offer as an incentive to bring in donations. Here's how that's done:
- Scroll down to the bottom of the comments.
- Post a comment about your intentions. Use the subject line stating how much you have available in matching funds.
- State the terms of your match. For instance, if you have $50 which you'd like to use to encourage small donors to participate, you might say you'll match gifts between $5 and $10 up to a total of $50.
- Check back and read the comments following your offer, to see if you've had any takers. The nice folks monitoring this diary will help you keep track. Once your $50 is fully matched, then you follow the link to ShelterBox and donate your 50 bucks.
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Here is a new video about the community building in Haiti around ShelterBox deployments:
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A Haitian mother and children in a ShelterBox tent:
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There is much more information on the ongoing efforts in Haiti and Chile elsewhere in other diaries. Yesterday's general Haiti diary was posted by Aji here, and today's has been posted by J Brunner Fan here. (Be sure to check out the wonderful pictures of Haiti posted by parryander in the comments of a previous version here!) There is a great deal of useful information and there are always new updates in these diaries, so be sure to check them out. swampus also has excellent info on other drives to procure tents for Haiti.
Note that while the problems have faded from the MSM, they still exist, and many people still need help. If you are able to help, please consider doing so. There will continue to be many needs over the next weeks and months, so you may also want to consider donating to other organizations as well. Even if you are unable to contribute at this time, please spread the word to others.
Thanks.