If you are in a position to donate, we hope you will do so, today, by visiting www.shelterbox.org.nz . Your support will change lives!
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Shelter plays a critical role in prevention, migration and recovery from the pandemic. As emergency shelter experts, Rotary's partner ShelterBox is providing essential aid in the global response to COVID-19. In densely populated settlements and refugee camps, families urgently need emergency shelter to maintain social distance and isolate the most vulnerable.
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ShelterBox's role in the global fight:
- Enabling social distancing with emergency shelter. Our tents and shelter aid helps families move out of cramped collective centers.
- Improving access to good hygiene. We are customising our aid packages to include soap and hand washing basins.
- Promoting better health. Items like cooking equipment, sleeping mats and water filters help families stay healthy and reduce the spread of infection.
- Modifying distribution practices. Our partners are using PPE and hand washing to minimise the spread of COVID-19 during distribution.
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"I cannot buy masks or gloves and I cannot treat my family if they catch the virus. I need a kitchen set just for our family, so that I don't have to borrow and so that the infection does not spread. All I can do is to keep my family away from people and inside the tent."
- Abu, Idlib, Syria
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To donate, visit www.shelterbox.org.nz
ShelterBox is a registered charity in New Zealand (CC49035) Independent of Rotary International and the Rotary Foundation.
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I also want to remind you that even during a global pandemic, natural disasters don’t stop.
On 06 April 2020, Cyclone Harold made landfall in our close Pacific neighbour, Vanuatu, as a Category 5 cyclone, bringing devastation to the northern provinces. The provinces of Sanma, Malampa, Torba and Penama are most affected.
It is estimated that up to 90% of buildings and houses in Sanma are either damaged or destroyed. Communications are still down in most areas and, coupled with the remote nature of many communities, the full extent of the damage or casualties is still unclear. 160,000 people are thought to be affected.
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Vanuatu is mercifully COVID-19-free and the Vanuatu government would like to keep it that way. Because of this, ShelterBox is unable to send in a Response Team to be on the ground to help in Vanuatu. However, we won’t let this stop us helping in other ways. Our Operations team have been working tirelessly to find a way to assist the people of Vanuatu, working with the National Disaster Management Office and locally based NGOs. Working with a potential local partner, we are looking to provide ShelterKits (including tarpaulins, tools and fixings), ropes and solar lights, which should help 3,000 households.
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In every emergency, there is an urgency to act. COVID-19 has complicated and slowed any response in Vanuatu but also allowed us the time to liaise with partners on the ground and get a better understanding of needs of the affected population. With your support, we can help ensure that families have safe shelter from the elements and potentially, the virus.
I hope that if you can, you will make a donation to our Urgent COVID-19 Appeal today.
You can find all the details of how to donate on our website (www.shelterbox.org.nz), or you can directly make your donation to:
ShelterBox New Zealand Charitable Trust, Bank Account: 03-1749-0416598-00
Thank you so much for continuing to be a ShelterBox supporter. It is only with your help that we can create a world where there is ‘No family without shelter’.
Ngā mihi nui,
Guy
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Guy Cassidy
Board Chair, ShelterBox New Zealand Charitable Trust
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