Haiti: ShelterBox Key to Survival 6 Months On
Posted
on Jul 16, 2010
ShelterBox tents are key to survival in Haiti with transitional shelter slow to appear. The first ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) was mobilized 12 minutes after the earthquake struck. Now, six months later, 22,192 ShelterBoxes have been delivered in Haiti, enough aid for more than 220,000 people.
As land ownership issues and logistics delay the massive rebuilding efforts needed, the basic tarpaulin shelters received by the majority of those made homeless are proving little match for heavy rains and the hurricane season.
The ShelterBox disaster relief tent undergoes extensive testing. The tent, and its poles, have been tested in wind and rain tunnels, with winds reaching up to 120kph.
The response to the Haiti earthquake has been the biggest, longest and most complex in the ten-year history of ShelterBox. More than 50 highly trained ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) members, from all walks of life, have now worked in Haiti as volunteers for ShelterBox.