Supporting Shelter Box Response

The Rotary Clubs of Grangemouth and Falkirk set up the ShelterBox tent in York Square in Grangemouth on Saturday 16^th September and in the Howgate on the following week. The generosity of the people of Falkirk and Grangemouth saw £987 accumulated from the two collections. It is likely that both Clubs will augment that sum so that 2 ShelterBoxes can be provided to deserving communities as the boxes cost £590 each to fill and distribute.

SHELTERBOX RESPONSE TO TYPHOON HAIYAN
Typhoon Haiyan, which hit the Philippines on 8th November 2013, was the most powerful storm ever to make landfall, claiming 6,200 lives and destroying a million homes. ShelterBox was there to respond within hours. We already had a team in the Philippines when Haiyan struck, responding to an earthquake in Bohol (15 October 13). ShelterBox had been tracking the path of the typhoon and put the existing in-country team on standby to respond ensuring that those who had lost their homes following the earthquake were not overlooked. As soon as the scale of damage was known a second team was mobilised and we set up an in-country staff presence to oversee the deployment. From 8th November onwards we worked with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) as our primary contact, and liaised with the Shelter Cluster of partner agencies throughout the deployment.

STOCK AND FREIGHT
In response to Typhoon Haiyan we sent over 50% of our aid by air freight. This included 7 flights in November and December 2013 carrying aid for over 3,700 families. We also had sufficient pre-positioned at Clark US Airforce base on Luzon island for over 500 families. During 2014 further airlifts have met urgent needs for mosquito nets and solar lighting. Aid for a further 3,000 families was sent by sea freight, to stagger the delivery, reducing aid logjams at ports and airports. The Philippines comprises over 7,000 islands, and delivering aid over the last few miles to remote communities can be the most challenging and time consuming part of the journey. We continue to maintain emergency aid stock in pre-positioned locations in the area as we are aware a new disaster could strike at any time. For example, we are currently monitoring an active Volcano on the island of Luzon.

HOW MUCH AID, WHERE AND WHEN?
To date we have delivered emergency shelter and non-food items to help over 7,200 families, including 1,513 ShelterBoxes. We distributed an additional 5763 tents, and ShelterBox also provided other non-food items including 10,000 solar lights, 870 water filtration systems, 2,300 mosquito nets, 445 tool kits and 30 SchoolBoxes. Our Response Teams have worked in shifts, many of them in remote island communities. An additional shipment of 500 multi-tools, 512 stoves and 50 SchoolBoxes was sent in the last month, still in response to Typhoon Haiyan, and this aid will be distributed with the assistance of local Rotarians.
In total the areas we have worked in are Samar, East Samar, Leyte, Bantayan & outlying islands, North Cebu / Dan Bantayan, and Panay. During the period we were also operating in Bohol & Mindanao. Aid was delivered in partnership with MedAir to Leyte, and toolkits to Dulag in late November 2013 in response to needs assessments and the guidance of the Shelter Cluster. We were planning and working with Handicap International in Leyte and Samar in early December. Box distribution took place in Samar in December. Work in Leyte with Plan International and local government started on 17 November 2013, and distribution from 30 November 2013. There were 346 boxes / tents in Leyte by 5 December.
Around 100 response team members deployed to the Philippines as we were working in numerous locations simultaneously. Due to the geography, and our objective to reach the most vulnerable communities who were not being assisted by other agencies, this meant high volumes of micro-distributions requiring significant manpower.

ONGOING WORK IN THE PHILIPPINES
In response to the recent Typhoon Rammasun we sent 138 boxes, 190 standard relief tents, 39 midi tents, 1445 tarps, 747 tool kits and 1305 solar lights.
The unprecedented scale of the Typhoon Haiyan disaster means that the country still has an enormous un-met shelter need. At this point, having listened to the needs of the families affected by this disaster, transitional shelter projects are the most appropriate solution. Given the recurring nature of typhoons in the Philippines (unlike earthquakes, for example), it is essential to build in resilience to future disasters through the use of more durable shelter solutions, giving communities lasting solutions and avoiding the need for us to return to the same areas time and time again.
We are working with partner organisations to build around 1,700 transitional shelters for more than 8,000 vulnerable people in four locations. Transitional shelter provides temporary accommodation for people displaced by disasters until they are able to rebuild their houses or find an alternative. The projects are being financed by funds from the Typhoon Haiyan Appeal. Two of the projects are due for completion in January 2015, the other two in April and July 2015.

DONATIONS RECIEVED FOR THE PHILIPPINES
The response to this disaster from ShelterBox supporters was rapid and very generous, and allowed us to respond immediately to the need of families affected. Income for the restricted Typhoon Haiyan Appeal in 2013 from UK and all affiliates was 4.4 million.
1.6 million was expended by 30 December 2013. However significant distribution carried on in 2014 and we are continuing to work in the country. In early December 2013 we ended our emergency appeal as the funds received were comparable to our analysis of anticipated operational activity. Our response in the Philippines is on-going and as with all our work, income and expenditure will be reported in our accounts at the end of the financial year, which will be independently audited by KPMG and lodged with the Charity Commission.
Box Sponsorship
Knowing that the typhoon was of a scale that would require flexibility in the type of aid we provided to families, to ensure supporters donations went directly to families affected by the disaster we set up the Typhoon Haiyan Fund. As with all emergency appeals we are unable to provide box numbers under these circumstances. Funds received at the time of Typhoon Haiyan specifically to sponsor boxes were applied to a box for future disasters. We use those funds to procure supplies, prepare and often preposition boxes around the world in advance of disaster a process that takes time. This allows us the vital opportunity to prepare for disasters so that we can respond rapidly wherever needed.
The rate at which we deploy boxes corresponds with the number, size and scope of disasters occurring around the world. We have deployed much aid since January 2014, providing emergency shelter and other non-food items to over 12, 532 households. Our emergency responses in 2014 have been of a complex and varied nature, to areas with geographical challenges or political and security considerations, which means it can take longer for the full aid deployment process to be completed, and for us to be able to verify this, gather feedback from the field and report back to donors.
Since November 2013 we have deployed aid to help families affected by disaster in the following countries: Bolivia, Bosnia, Iraq, Lebanon, Nepal, Niger, North Korea, Paraguay, Philippines, Serbia, Syria, Turkey, Mexico, Chile and Zimbabwe. We are in the process of gathering reports from the field and sending advice notes to donors to inform them where their ShelterBox aid has been deployed following numerous additional deployments completed in the last few months.
We continue to rely on the support of all of our donors in order to respond wherever we are needed as soon as disaster strikes, providing shelter for families at the time they need it most.