Shelterbox

Read District Shelterbox Co-ordinator Howard Matthews' account of the great work that this partner of Rotary is doing around the world in spite of the corona virus



Firstly, I hope you and your family are well and staying safe, have you been working from home during the last few weeks to keep things moving forward?

After the initial lock down of everything, people may be now starting to raise their heads a little above the parapet to see what stages of normality are returning, whatever we now may define as normality.

Many club around the country are meeting virtually and often with a better attendance than their previous meetings.

In this light, a club holding a virtual meeting may need a virtual speaker and this is where, through yourself, we would like to offer our services to up date how ShelterBox in the Covid-19 crisis is still helping people around the world.

We have the luxury of our safe houses to isolate, purchase sanitisers and have in many cases our regular food delivered to our door. However, for refuges and indigenously displaced people, many living through the aftermath of a natural or man made disaster their lives exist in crowded settlements with poor sanitation, with basic services severely limited and where social distancing and hand washing, as we know it, is impossible.

That is why we would like to offer the chance to up date what S/Box is doing in these areas in a short virtual presentation to any clubs in D1110 who are having virtual meetings.

This would be very much a learning curve for us as we have not done this before, but this may be part of the way we will be working in the future.


CLICK HERE for the latest update on how Shelterbox has adapted to the COVID19 pandemic and continues to deliver its unique global support despite the current restrictions

And here's a personal message from Shelterbox C.E.O. Sanj Srikanthan


And a final thought from District 1110 Shelterbox Co-ordinator Howard Matthews

Fellow Rotarians all our lives are being affected by corona virus in some way but those living in refugee camps or in makeshift settlements are particularly vulnerable. Despite the challenges Shelterbox teams are working harder than ever to reach vulnerable families around the world. A great way to hear about what they are doing to provide life saving shelteris to invite a virtual speaker to your club’s online meeting.

Shelterbox is keen to support Rotary club meetings by providing virtual speakers. I am one of a team of volunteer staff and speakers who can provide general Shelterbox talk or a corona virus specific update. To invite Shelterbox speaker to join your club’s virtual meeting, in real time, e-mail rotaryrequest@shelterbox.org 

Or, alternatively, CLICK HERE to contact me, Rtn Howard Matthews (Christchurch Rotary and District 1110 Shelterbox Co-ordinator).

If you are interested in reading more about our current work or accessing activities please visit: https://www.shelterbox.org/about/how-we-work/partnerships/rotary/rotary-action-toolkit-covid-19/