ShelterBox Update (Oct 2019)

Quick update from ShelterBox USA... 
Our club is proud to provide continual support to this organization.  Read more to find out the latest news and to see the Current Deployments...

Current Deployments

Mapped above is where we are currently working.  Below you will find a summary of our work.

Bangladesh – Monsoon Flooding: Since 7th July, heavy monsoon rains have triggered flooding in low lying areas of Bangladesh, leaving one third of the country underwater. Four distributions have been carried out, sheltering 745 families this year. ShelterBox has responded to Bangladesh 5 different times for flooding and/or displaced populations. We’ve sheltered over 9,100 families in Bangladesh.

Syria - Conflict: ShelterBox has responded to Syria since 2012. We’ve helped shelter over 50,000 families. We are now preparing winterized distributions.

Ethiopia - Conflict: Millions of people have been forced to flee their homes because of violent conflicts and climate change. ShelterBox has responded to Ethiopia 3 times due to complex emergency, sheltering over 3,500 families.

Somaliland - Drought: Severe drought is devastating thousands of families in Somaliland. The drought has killed up to 80% of the region’s livestock, forcing families who rely on farming them to leave their homes in search of basic services and alternative livelihoods. ShelterBox has sheltered over 4,000 families since 2017.

Lake Chad Basin (Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon): The violent rise of Boko Haram began in Nigeria in 2009.  2.4 million families have fled their homes.  ShelterBox has sheltered over 11,000 families since 2015.

For more information, visit here: www.ShelterBoxUSA.org/NEWS.

Also, be sure to watch the ShelterBox Facebook Live Updates on Tuesdays.  ShelterBox goes live at 6:30am PT / 7:30am MT / 8:30am CT / 9:30am ET.  If you're not able to catch the live feed, the videos are available to watch later. These 10 minute videos are a great way to hear a real-time update of our work.

Cecilio, Paraguay, 2019 - photo from ShelterBox USA newsletter
 
Mission Moment
 
Meet Cecilio. Cecilio and his family live south east of the Paraguay River. In March 2019, they were forced out of their home when rising water levels flooded their town. They only had one day’s warning to move themselves and all their household possessions to a safer place.
Over the years, Cecilio said the water levels had become more frequent. “The waters rise far quicker than they used to, they used to rise slowly, and people had time to self-evacuate”, he said. Now families have much less warning. The water comes in so fast that they have to take what little they can carry and get out as fast as they can.

Cecilio said he was pleased to collect the aid items from ShelterBox. He was one of the first to receive them during one of the first distributions in July 2019. When the team met Cecilio to hear his story, he’d had the aid for a little over two weeks. He explained how it was well timed as he could now return home just as the river levels receded.  He told the team that aid items from ShelterBox had given him the motivation to return to his original home and begin repairs on his property which was damaged by the floods.
 
Along with other members of his community, Cecilio received training on how to repair his home. “I paid close attention during the training to ensure that I could make the appropriate repairs to my home, and so that it lasts longer and remains stronger the next time the floods come”, he said.
 
Every day your efforts are helping more families like Cecilio's. Thank you for helping us shelter more families following disaster!