ShelterBox Response Personnel came to assess the damage and to determine whether the beneficiaries are entitled to receive the ShelterBox. In a club meeting of the Hundred Islands Rotary, SRP Team Leader Peter Pierce and Lyndon Tumblyn explained how they were sent to the Philippines to help the victims of Cyclone Emong.

A more detailed story after the ShelterBox are delivered to the intended beneficiaries.

-President Henry Onia, Hundred Islands Rotary, D3790, Philippines

The debate goes on. Is global warming the result of human activity, or is it only an earthly cycle repeated naturally at long intervals? In either case, the natural disasters of recent years clearly seem to have been more frequent and more devastating than in earlier times. Governments and social agencies have been increasingly more responsive with aid, thanks in large part to better communication and more rapid transportation. 

But let us not overlook the benefit of innovation, often in theform of a "simple idea" put into action. Such was the introduction in2000 of the Rotary ShelterBox, conceived in the mind of Rotarian TomHenderson of the Helston-Lizard Rotary Club in Cornwall, England. As hedescribes it, "It's a simple package of aid delivered to the most needypeople in the shortest amount of time."

The ShelterBox is "small enough so two people can carry it," Tomexplains, but "large enough to get equipment in for ten people."Designed to help an extended family survive for a minimum of sixmonths, the lightweight, weatherproof box contains items such as a10-person tent, blankets, basic tools, water-purification tablets, acompact stove, mosquito nets, and other items tailored to theparticular region in crisis.

Although ShelterBox originated in England and its operation was atfirst only from there, it has become a worldwide network withdistribution hubs in many countries. "This allows ShelterBox to respondwithin 72 hours of a disaster anywhere in the world," Tom says proudly.ShelterBox is nonpolitical, accepting no funding from governmentagencies. Donations from Rotary Clubs worldwide help fund the boxes,each of which costs approximately $1000 USD. "Nobody can buy ourboxes," Tom says. "They are only available for free."

In January 2001, the first 143 ShelterBoxes were flown toearthquake-ravaged Gujarat, India. As of 2006, the ShelterBoxorganization had responded to more than 70 disasters in 46 countries,aiding more than a half-million victims.

As this is written (September 2008), ShelterBoxes are beingdistributed in Nepal, where severe flooding displaced as many as 70,000people. Last month (August) 200 ShelterBoxes were sent to the Ukraine,where floods and landslides forced up to thousands of people from theirhomes. And in the devastating Myanmar cyclone, 2000 ShelterBoxes weredelivered to the hardest hit areas of the Irrawaddy Delta.

Yes, ShelterBox was a "simple idea," conceived in the mind of oneRotarian, launched by one Rotary Club, and that grassroots Rotaryproject has rapidly grown to an international level. The internationalrelief agency Feed the Children has called Tom's ShelterBox the bestdisaster relief tool they have seen in their 20 years of experience.Its success merited a recent CNN broadcast, praising its humanitarianservice.

So what other "simple ideas" lie dormant in the minds of Rotariansaround the world? Surely there are more "simple ideas" that can alsogrow into community-wide, or world-wide, programs of Rotary Service.

Editorial of the Month - ROTI September 2008
Rotary editorials published on this ROTI website
are archived at rotaryfirst100.org/historians/deaver.htm