“ShelterBox”: new life after calamities
BY ATTY. BATAS MAURICIO
DESPAIR FOR CALAMITY VICTIMS: When heavy rains, floods, strong winds, volcanic eruptions and other natural disasters or calamities strike, one of the most immediate needs that must addressed by government and private charitable institutions alike is relocation sites or other places where the displaced victims are to be temporarily sheltered.
Most often, school houses, gyms, covered courts and plazas and other public buildings are transformed as evacuation centers, but bigger problems usually crop up and pose more health and other hazards to the affected families and individuals upon reaching these makeshift shelters, making them pine to return to their homes.
But with “home” having been washed away or gravely destroyed even before the victims left them, there is really nothing to return to, for most of the victims. Despondency and despair then set in, crushing whatever hopes that may have been left in their hearts. The stage is then set for a bleak and hopeless future for many of them.
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SHELTERBOX GIVES HOPE FOR BETTER LIVES AFTER CALAMITIES: “ShelterBox” is changing all these, however. An international relief organization that delivers emergency shelter, warmth and dignity to people affected by disasters worldwide, ShelterBox now aims to help 500,000 people who are victimized by natural disasters worldwide every year.
Tom Henderson, the founder and chief executive officer of ShelterBox, told me in an interview at the “affiliate launching ceremonies” for ShelterBox Philippines at the Fontana Leisure Park in Clark, Pampanga, Saturday, November 13, 2010, that his group has already helped 500,000 people since it was founded in 2000.
A Rotarian from the Rotary Club of Helston-Lizard in Cornwall, Henderson said that ShelterBox was initially a project of his Club, and was born out of a realization that aid response to most disasters was in the form of food and medicine, but little or no assistance is given in terms of proper shelter to help them in the first few days as they tried to rebuild their lives.
“ShelterBox was launched to fill that void,” Henderson said, and, in the case of Filipino disaster victims, ShelterBox has already delivered hundreds of “shelter boxes” six times.
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FILIPINO ROTARIANS PUT UP SHELTERBOX PHILIPPINES: What “proper shelter” does Henderson’s ShelterBox provide? Lyne Abanilla, a governor of Rotary International District 3810 and now a trustee of ShelterBox Philippines, explained that each “shelter box” contains a disaster relief tent for a family of about 10 people designed for extreme temperatures and heavy rains, and a host of other items intended to put the victims back on track after the calamities.
Filipino Rotarians are so impressed by the relevance of what ShelterBox is doing---considering the calamities occurring in the country yearly---that they decided to affiliate themselves with the group, putting up ShelterBox Philippines in the process.
Anyone wanting to help push this project---or to be helped by it---can approach any Rotarian in Rotary’s 10 districts in the Philippines, said Rotary Past District Gov. Jess Nicdao, the newly-installed chairman of ShelterBox Philippines.
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“ShelterBox”: bagong buhay matapos ang kalamidad
MGA BIKTIMA NG KALAMIDAD, DESPERADO: Sa pagdating ng ulan, baha, malakas na hangin, pagputok ng bulkan at iba pang kalamidad, ang isa sa mga pangunahing pangangailangan na dapat tugunan agad ng gobyerno at mga pribadong organisasyon ay ang paglilipatan at pansamantalang tirahan ng mga apektadong mamamayan.
Kadalasan, ang ginagawang evacuation centers ay ang mga silid-aralan, mga gym, covered courts, plaza at iba ang mga pampublikong gusali, pero doon man ay naglalabasan ang mga mas malalaking problema na nagdudulot ng mas maraming panganib sa kalusugan at seguridad ng mga apektadong pamilya, dahilan upang nagmamadali silang umuwi sa kanilang mga tahanan.
Pero ang mga “tahanang” ito ay inianod na ng tubig o nasira na rin at hindi na puwedeng matirhan pa bago pa man sila iniwanan kaya naman hindi na sila mababalikan pa. Dahil diyan, nagiging desperado ang karamihan sa kanila, at nag-iisip na napaka-dilim na ng kanilang kinabukasan.
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SHELTERBOX, MAY DALANG PAG-ASA MATAPOS ANG MGA KALAMIDAD: Pero binago na ang lahat ng ito ng “ShelterBox”, isang pandaigdigang samahan na nagbibigay ng agarang tulong para sa matibay at maayos na tirahan para sa mga biktima ng mga kalamidad, at naglalayong makatulong sa kalahating milyong katao sa buong mundo taon-taon.
Sa aking panayam noong Sabado, Nobyembre 13, 2010 kay Tom Henderson, ang founder at chief executive officer ng ShelterBox (sa paglulunsad ng ShelterBox Philippines sa Fontana Leisure Park sa Clark, Pampanga), sinabi niyang nakatulong na ang kanyang grupo sa kalahating milyong katao mula noong maitatag ito noong 2000.
Binanggit din ni Henderson, isang Rotarian, na ang ShelterBox ay proyekto ng Rotary Club of Helston-Lizard sa Cornwall kung saan siya kasapi. Ayon sa kanya, ang karaniwang tulong sa mga biktima ng kalamidad sa buong mundo ay mga gamot at pagkain lamang, at walang tulong ukol sa “tamang matitirhan” ng mga biktima sa mga araw na itinataguyod nilang muli ang kanilang buhay.
“Inilunsad ang ShelterBox dahil sa kakulangang ito,” ayon kay Henderson, at, ibinunyag niyang sa Pilipinas, anim na beses ng tumulong ang ShelterBox sa mga Pilipinong biktima ng kalamidad.
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FILIPINO ROTARIANS, NAGTAYO DIN NG SHELTERBOX PHILIPPINES: Ano ang ibinigay bilang “tamang matitirhan” mula sa ShelterBox ni Henderson? Ayon kay Lyne Abanilla, isang dating governor ng Rotary International District 3810 at trustee sa ngayon ng ShelterBox Philippines, ang isang “shelter box” ay naglalaman ng isang matibay na toldang matitirhan ng sampu katao, at mga bagay na kailangan sa araw-araw na pamumuhay.
Naakit ang mga Filipino Rotarians sa kahalagahan ng ShelterBox lalo na sa bansang gaya ng Pilipinas na taon-taon ay may mga kalamidad, kaya naman sumapi sila dito at itinatag nila ang ShelterBox Philippines noong Sabado.
Ang mga nagnanais tumulong sa proyektong ito---o nagnanais matulungan---ay maaaring lumapit kahit kaninong Rotarian sa buong Pilipinas, ayon naman kay Rotary Past District Gov. Jess Nicdao, ang bagong luklok na pangulo ng ShelterBox Philippines.
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In : KAKAMPI MO ANG BATAS