Rotary contacts bypass politics in remote Myanmar
As the United States managed its first relief airlift to cyclone-ravaged Myanmar Monday, Rotarians were already on the scene, having avoided the political barbed wire that tripped up other relief efforts to the isolated country.
Last Thursday, Rotarians began distributing hundreds of Shelter Boxes, prepackaged survival kits intended to provide emergency shelter to a family of 10 for at least six months.
Another shipment of 1,000 Shelter Boxes is reportedly en route.
Rotarians were able to penetrate areas the country's military rulers had placed off-limits by working with Rotarians from Myanmar, said Donna Gulley, regional representative for Shelter Box from the Northbrook Rotary.
"That's how we got in there," she said. "It's the people knowing people, rather than governments talking with governments."
The need in Myanmar is pressing. A British charity estimated Sunday that 1.5 million people are on the brink of a "massive public-health catastrophe."
Gulley and other local Rotarians have made the grass-roots Shelter Box project a priority for the area's clubs.
The goal is for each of 71 local Rotary clubs to contribute the $1,000 needed to purchase, assemble and deliver each Shelter Box, Gulley said.
Boxes funded by Rotarians from Park Ridge, Northbrook and Villa Park likely have already made their way to Myanmar, Gulley said. Each box has a tracking number, so Rotarians will know where their kits lands "when the dust settles."
Shelter Boxes are packed in with a 10-person tent, sleeping mats and bags, water purifiers, a cook stove, a shovel, rope and other tools. They're the brain child of a Rotarian from the United Kingdom, where the kits are assembled and warehoused.
Since 2001, Shelter Box has distributed aid packages to 65 disasters, from floods to famine, in 47 countries. About 1,200 boxes arrived in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina battered the Gulf Coast in 2005.
And, even with Myanmar still in the grips of its disaster, Shelter Box could have its next deployment.
On Monday, at least 9,000 people were reported dead after a massive earthquake struck central China.
"It was on Tuesday last week when we heard that ShelterBox was getting to Myanmar, so I hope it will be very soon that we will hear the status regarding China," Gulley said. "The need exists; the need persists."
How to help
Faced with major disasters in China and Myanmar, local agencies say they're still organizing relief efforts.
Shelter Box donations, now being sent to Myanmar and likely headed for China, may be sent to Northbrook Rotary Club Charitable Projects Foundation, P.O. Box 283, Northbrook, IL 60065-0283, memo line: Shelter Box
You can help those affected by countless crises around the world each year by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross International Response Fund by calling (800) HELP NOW.
Save the Children USA also is accepting donations targeted for Myanmar. Call (800) 728-3843 or visit www.savethechildren.org.