CLARK FREEPORT – Unpredictable weather on the Sierra Madre mountains has been preventing efforts to transport more tents and other provisions in so-called “shelter boxes” for families displaced by floods in disaster-stricken Isabela province.
The England-based ShelterBox organization, which donated some P100 million worth of so-called shelter boxes to victims of typhoon Ondoy and Pepeng last year, were able to dispatch recently 100 such boxes to disaster-stricken Isabela province.
“We have 104 more boxes to be turned over to displaced families there, but we have to wait for better weather as we have to pass through the Sierra Madre,” said Peter Pierce, head of ShelterBox Australia who attended the ceremony establishing the affiliate in the country.
“We want to give these people shelter, warmth and dignity as in other areas in the world that ShelterBox had helped,” Pierce said.
Jesus Nicdao, who was named head of the new affiliate of ShelterBox in the Philippines said each box is worth about $1,000 and that the boxes intended for Isabela are worth about P9 million. The boxes are being donated to beneficiaries.
Each box, which is made of green plastic, contains a “relief tent for a family of up to 10 people and also has in it basic needs such as beddings, kitchen wares, carpentry tools, and even school kits for children, he noted.
British royalty’s “Order of British Empire” awardee Tom Henderson, founder of ShelterBox program whose tent donations to disaster-hit areas worldwide continue to be used by one million people in 70 countries including the Philippines. It was formally launched here the other day ShelterBox Philippines with Nicdao as head. The country is now the 18th affiliate worldwide.
ShelterBox funds come mostly from donations of 1.2 million members of the Rotary Club worldwide, although supporters of the project who are not club members have also contributed.
Henderson, 60, was awarded earlier this year by England’s Queen Elizabeth II the Order of the British Empire for ShelterBox. He was also recently named a CNN “hero” by the television network.
“We have improved the tents so they are not only rip but also fire proof, while the bedding blankets are of the type that can last 20 years and could even be scooped to fetch water,” he noted.
Henderson also signed here a memorandum of undertaking (MOU) with Clark Development Corp. (CDC) president and chief executive officer Benny Ricafort for the use of a huge warehouse here as storage for some 224 shelter boxes that will be on standby for distribution in future disasters not only in the Philippines but also in nearby countries.
Yesterday, members of the Rotary Club from districts all over Luzon also made pledges worth P1.5 million so that another 224 more boxes could be purchased and prepared for future need.
“The objective is to raise enough funds for another 224 more boxes to fill in one container van,” said Pierce.
Nicdao noted that since 2006, ShelterBox had distributed boxes worth P100 million to disaster victims in Laguna, Pangasinan, Bataan, Zambales, Benguet, Ilocos Sur, Pampanga, Marikina, Antipolo, and three towns in Rizal province.
ShelterBox tents are still being used as temporary shelter by folk displaced by floodings in Botolan, Zambales since 2008, Pierce noted.
Nicdao said that this year alone, ShelterBox has already donated shelter boxes to areas hit by various kinds of disasters not only in the Philippines, but also in Indonesia, Pakistan, Mexico, Guatemala, Niger, Sta., Lucia and Benin.
Henderson is a Rotarian and former Royal Navy search and rescue diver. Its first mission was to deliver 143 boxes to earthquake victims in Gujarat, India in January, 2001. With donations pouring in initially from Rotarians in England, it was also able to send boxes to victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami in December, 2004.
“We instantly respond to earthquake, volcano, flood, hurricane, cyclone, tsunami or conflict by delivering boxes of aid,” said the movement’s website shelterbox.org.
The England-based ShelterBox organization, which donated some P100 million worth of so-called shelter boxes to victims of typhoon Ondoy and Pepeng last year, were able to dispatch recently 100 such boxes to disaster-stricken Isabela province.
“We have 104 more boxes to be turned over to displaced families there, but we have to wait for better weather as we have to pass through the Sierra Madre,” said Peter Pierce, head of ShelterBox Australia who attended the ceremony establishing the affiliate in the country.
“We want to give these people shelter, warmth and dignity as in other areas in the world that ShelterBox had helped,” Pierce said.
Jesus Nicdao, who was named head of the new affiliate of ShelterBox in the Philippines said each box is worth about $1,000 and that the boxes intended for Isabela are worth about P9 million. The boxes are being donated to beneficiaries.
Each box, which is made of green plastic, contains a “relief tent for a family of up to 10 people and also has in it basic needs such as beddings, kitchen wares, carpentry tools, and even school kits for children, he noted.
British royalty’s “Order of British Empire” awardee Tom Henderson, founder of ShelterBox program whose tent donations to disaster-hit areas worldwide continue to be used by one million people in 70 countries including the Philippines. It was formally launched here the other day ShelterBox Philippines with Nicdao as head. The country is now the 18th affiliate worldwide.
ShelterBox funds come mostly from donations of 1.2 million members of the Rotary Club worldwide, although supporters of the project who are not club members have also contributed.
Henderson, 60, was awarded earlier this year by England’s Queen Elizabeth II the Order of the British Empire for ShelterBox. He was also recently named a CNN “hero” by the television network.
“We have improved the tents so they are not only rip but also fire proof, while the bedding blankets are of the type that can last 20 years and could even be scooped to fetch water,” he noted.
Henderson also signed here a memorandum of undertaking (MOU) with Clark Development Corp. (CDC) president and chief executive officer Benny Ricafort for the use of a huge warehouse here as storage for some 224 shelter boxes that will be on standby for distribution in future disasters not only in the Philippines but also in nearby countries.
Yesterday, members of the Rotary Club from districts all over Luzon also made pledges worth P1.5 million so that another 224 more boxes could be purchased and prepared for future need.
“The objective is to raise enough funds for another 224 more boxes to fill in one container van,” said Pierce.
Nicdao noted that since 2006, ShelterBox had distributed boxes worth P100 million to disaster victims in Laguna, Pangasinan, Bataan, Zambales, Benguet, Ilocos Sur, Pampanga, Marikina, Antipolo, and three towns in Rizal province.
ShelterBox tents are still being used as temporary shelter by folk displaced by floodings in Botolan, Zambales since 2008, Pierce noted.
Nicdao said that this year alone, ShelterBox has already donated shelter boxes to areas hit by various kinds of disasters not only in the Philippines, but also in Indonesia, Pakistan, Mexico, Guatemala, Niger, Sta., Lucia and Benin.
Henderson is a Rotarian and former Royal Navy search and rescue diver. Its first mission was to deliver 143 boxes to earthquake victims in Gujarat, India in January, 2001. With donations pouring in initially from Rotarians in England, it was also able to send boxes to victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami in December, 2004.
“We instantly respond to earthquake, volcano, flood, hurricane, cyclone, tsunami or conflict by delivering boxes of aid,” said the movement’s website shelterbox.org.
