Monthly talk: Gray O’Hanlon – Shelterbox

We were pleased to welcome Gray O’Hanlon back to our May meeting.  His previous visit was to talk to us about his career as an airline pilot, but on this occasion, he talked about one of the most important charities to originate in the South West.

Shelterbox was created by the Rotary Club in Helston, Cornwall, 25 years ago.  Members saw the need to provide emergency equipment to provide shelter for people affected by disasters around the world, whether these be the result of natural disasters or conflict.  While its origins with Rotary still matter, Shelterbox is now a completely independent organisation, working with partners in any part of the world where there is a need.  There is certainly no shortage of these.

Shelterbox has some important guiding principles: they must work with integrity, striving to be honest, straightforward and fair;  they must be flexible, open minded and adapt to meet the different requirements of the people and places in which they operate; they must be accountable; they must put people at the heart of everything they do; they must continually strive to improve what they do.

The best known image of Shelterbox is probably, quite literally, their large green box which contains all manner of materials to enable people to survive in the immediate situation when they find themselves without a home or shelter.  Today, the green box has been largely superseded as other means of providing and delivering support have been found.  Today, there are major warehouses in strategic locations where supplies are stored ready for use.  These include Turkey, in a region where earthquakes are a frequent event.  In the Caribbean hurricanes regularly cause devastation so ready access to supplies is essential, as is the case in the Philippines where the warehouse is within reach of that typhoon afflicted region.

Gray asked us a question which we hope none of us will ever have to answer: how would we cope and what would we need to survive, if we found ourselves homeless in a disaster zone?  We might have a fair idea of some of the answers, but until you are in that situation, some of the challenges might not be so clearly understood.  Over the years, the contents of these boxes has evolved as technology has changed, and understanding of what is vitally important has grown.  Gray showed us a solar powered light which can provide essential light in the immediate aftermath of a disaster, enabling a family to function in the worst of situations.  At a cost of £15, this is priceless.  A tent is essential.  Blankets are, of course, so important in areas such as the Atlas Mountains, Ukraine or Turkey where homeless families often have to live in extreme cold.  He showed us a mattress with a thermal, waterproof lining, mosquito nets, a kitchen set, a water filter to give access to clean water.

While emergency support in the immediate aftermath of losing your home is vital, it is also important to look to the future.  Families are given materials and tools to have the ability to build a more permanent shelter for a family.  To help the family move forward, it can be important to have some money, to buy food and other essentials of course, but also to have some independence and self-respect, and to contribute to the rebuilding of the economy and society.

To provide this material, Shelterbox works with local partners in the countries affected.  Often, they use local networks, including Rotary and the Scouts, who are a great source of volunteers in those places and with local knowledge to make things happen.

The list of countries where Shelterbox is currently operating is longer even than most of us could imagine, and often they are working in places which have long left the news headlines, or never made it there in the first place: Cameroon where many are displaced by Islamic terrorist groups, Bangladesh where there was devastating flooding last year, Sudan where one in five of the population has been displaced by a brutal civil war, Myanmar following the recent earthquake, Haiti after successive hurricanes, Gaza, Ukraine…. .  And so it goes on.

Gray’s talk was very interesting and full of surprises but if you would like to know more about Shelterbox, then a good starting point is to visit their website https://shelterbox.org/.

John Vick