International Service

The Belfast Club has chosen to highlight the following Rotary Charities for special support.  click on link below to go to topic direct

	ShelterBoxes
	Aqua and Lifeboxes
	Vision Aid Overseas
	Jaipur Limbs Project

ShelterBoxes/AquaBoxes/LifeBoxes

Donations have been made by the Club towards the cost of these boxes. It's wonderful that Rotary is able to send in Shelter, Aqua and Life boxes to disaster zones and have them unloaded them from the plane and distributed within days of a disaster.

Shelterboxes

ShelterBox provides immediate aid to disaster areas. It was founded in 2000 by Rotarian Tom Henderson (a former Royal Navy Search and Rescue diver) with the support of his Rotary Club Helston-Lizard in Cornwall, which adopted it as its millennium project. He saw that the aid response to most disasters was in the form of food and medicine to help people survive the immediate aftermath. Little or no assistance was given in terms of proper shelter to help them through the first few days, weeks, and months as they tried to rebuild their lives.

ShelterBox was launched to fill that void, little did they know that it would become the largest Rotary club project in the world.

ShelterBoxes provide humanitarian aid in the form of a 10 person tent designed to withstand extreme temperatures, high winds and heavy rainfall. Also included are: thermal blankets, insulated ground sheets, stoves, cooking utensils, tools, water containers and purification equipment and a children’s pack containing drawing books, crayons and pens. For children who have lost most if not all their possessions these small gifts are treasured. 

This year represents the 10th Anniversary of ShelterBox and in their Annual Review of 2010 Founder and CEO, Rotarian Tom Henderson said: “Ten years ago I had one box and a dream to make a difference. Ten years later and ShelterBox is a globally represented charity making a significant contribution to disaster relief on the world stage.

The past year has seen us face some of our biggest challenges and we have proved, yet again, the absolute and imperative need for high quality emergency shelter to protect the lives that are threatened every year following disasters of all types and magnitude.

Our work would not be possible without the support we receive from everyone who has supported ShelterBox; especially our wonderful volunteers…….I’d like to extend my deepest thanks to all of you for contributing to our disaster relief efforts. Is because of your support that there are now thousands of families calling a ShelterBox their home. Your support has helped save and protect hundreds and thousands of lives.”

The ShelterBox Video A Decade of Disaster Relief can be viewed by clicking on the picture below.

Since 2006, The Rotary Club of Belfast has donated 48 boxes and so far 45 have been deployed helping 480 people - 17 of them in 2010: 14 to Haiti, 3 to Guatemala and 3 to Pakistan.

Distribution of The Rotary Club of Belfast's ShelterBox Donations

With the news of the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti there was an enormous upsurge in the donating of ShelterBoxes. Members of the Club responded admirably, a number of members subscribed individually and President Arthur donated the proceeds of his President's Night. In March 2010 the Club received a ShelterBox Bronze Award for the level of continued support. The Club continues to support ShelterBox and thanks all those members who have contributed in any way.

President Brian would like to encourage any of our members who wish to support disaster relief work to donate to this very worthy Rotary Charity. Boxes cost around £450 and the Club would look to members to seek support from their churches, clubs or kindred organisations in either, buying a Box in partnership, sponsoring one or making a contribution. for the level of continued support. The Club continues to support ShelterBox and thanks all those members who have contributed in any way.

Any Box provided by members, either individually or as a group, would be warmly welcomed. A simple gift of shelter makes a huge difference to people’s lives.

ShelterBox says: "Your donation will allow us to provide a family who have lost everything in a disaster with emergency shelter and life saving supplies. Your support means we can respond instantly to disasters, wherever and whenever they strike. We never know when the next disaster will strike and your donation ensures we have the stock in place to deliver aid to the people who need it most, as quickly as possible. We cannot guarantee when your box will be dispatched but we can guarantee that when it is delivered the lifesaving shelter you have provided will be invaluable to a family who have lost everything".

ShelterBox continues to respond to crises until the job is done while at the same time rebuilding stock levels to have the capacity to immediately respond to the next disaster that strikes.

ShelterBox in Action

In response to desperate world-wide need in 2010 deployments were made in 16 countries responding to earthquakes, flooding, cyclones and landslides.

Haiti

The great work of these boxes was only too apparent following Haiti’s devastating earthquake on 13^th January 2010. The ShelterBox Response Team arrived the following day and just 5 days after the disaster, the first boxes arrived - a year later 28,417 ShelterBoxes have been sent to Haiti; more than they have ever sent out before in one year, let alone to one country, delivering emergency shelter to more than 280,000 people.

The first boxes were used to build emergency field hospitals. There were desperate conditions with amputations are happening every half hour.

Carlos (4) who had his leg amputated - he is using materials from one of the children's packs in the boxes	an injured girl recovering in a ShelterBox hospital	girls recovering after surgery

Only 7 weeks after the disaster more than 7,000 ShelterBoxes provided shelter for over 70,000 people. Several small encampments throughout the country had been set up and thousands of people left homeless in the Capital were able to move to a 'city of tents' - a camp with hundreds of ShelterBox tents situated near to the US Embassy in Port au Prince.

The encampment named Congress Camp allowed them to stay close to their communities and carry on with their daily lives.

from this...	to this...

a year on....

A quarter of all tents delivered to families who lost everything in the Haiti earthquake has been provided by ShelterBox and stand out from the crowded camps; this emergency shelter solution has been robust enough to last over a year and close to a million people are still sheltering in makeshift camps throughout Haiti.

One such camp, Delmas 33, in Haiti’s capital Port au Prince, was established by the first ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) in the first weeks after the earthquake. (UK)SRT member Becky Maynard says: ‘Delmas 33 was one of the earliest camps we helped establish in Haiti,  one year on and the camp has grown rather than shrunk as people seek refuge there. Although some of the tent’s porches were damaged in the extreme weather conditions last September, the condition they’re in is a testament to their quality – they are still providing a home for some of the 700 families.

Becky took this photograph in January 2011 of these ShelterBox tents in the Petite Place, Cazau, camp which have been sheltering Haitian families since February last year.

Tragically, it seems very unlikely that families will be moving out in 2011. This mirrors much of what we’re seeing in other camps – that ShelterBox tents will be essential to provide homes for thousands of families for in excess of another year.’


Pakistan

The floods that swept through Pakistan in August 2010, with nearly a month of rain, were described as having the scale of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami coupled with the devastation of the Haiti earthquake. At one point, a fifth of the country, an area bigger than the UK, was under water and an estimated 20 million people were directly affected by the flooding.

The floods killed thousands, wiped out villages, infrastructure and farmland, and left millions of people homeless. Picture shows a camp near Karachi.

ShelterBox’s partners in Pakistan, ensured aid was delivered to the families in most need while the German Red Cross helped distribute thousands of the family LifeStraws ShelterBox delivered to Pakistan. Provision of clean water in the Sindh and Punjab provinces was of critical importance and each family LifeStraw can filter up to 10 litres of water an hour.

Africa

Throughout the year ShelterBox has been present in Africa delivering aid in Kenya, Egypt, Uganda and Niger, helping hundreds of families on both sides of the continent. This year’s annual flooding in West Africa caused chaos across the region.

The floods in Benin were the worst to hit the country in close to 50 years.

Central and South America

ShelterBox also responded to a series of disasters throughout Central and South America – floods in Brazil and Mexico, landslides in Guatemala and Peru and a massive earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Chile.
 
Indonesia

Since mid-October, ShelterBox has been operating in Indonesia and the Philippines.  Indonesia was hit by twin disasters – a tsunami off the coast of Sumatra and the eruption of Mount Merapi in Central Java.  These a week after super-typhoon, Megi, left a trail of destruction behind it.  ShelterBox is also helping families who lost their homes in the eruption of Mount Merapi, Central Java.

The tsunami was triggered by a 7.7 magnitude earthquake that struck 20 kilometres beneath the ocean floor off the island of Sumatra. Reports say that the massive wave swept up to 600 meters inland in some places.
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Aquaboxes

Aquaboxes provide Single Box kits to support whole families in disaster zones. In a disaster the lack of, or disruption to, a safe water supply or sanitation creates an ideal breeding-ground for water-borne disease. Cholera and typhoid are the most virulent of these but they are not the whole story. Often the problem can be a simple infection causing diarrhoea and leading to dehydration, particularly in the very young. Water-Aid, a charity committed to the provision of long-term water supplies, estimates that 25,000 children die every day from the effects of drinking polluted water. Aquabox plays a vital part in minimising the after-effects of disaster.

The standard Aquabox has two functions. It is filled with a selection of warm clothing, useful hardware and hygiene items. The actual contents depend on the individual or organisation that has donated and filled the box but may include warm clothing, kitchen utensils, toiletries, small hand tools and other general hardware. It also contains a filter cartridge and a matching supply of water-treatment tablets. Once the welfare contents have been removed, each Aquabox can be used to purify up to 1100 litres of polluted water, making it safe and pleasant to drink in as little as 2 hours. 1100 litres is equal to 5,000 cups - that is enough for a family of four people (drinking 10 cups per day) for about four months.

The Aquabox Gold is a purely sponsored box that is filled by Aquabox with welfare items and two filter kits extend its water purification life for one family of four to well over six months.

Aqua30 is for situations where the need is more prolonged or arises regularly, but permanent solutions cannot yet be provided. Aqua30 is supplied filled with 30 filter cartridges and the required water-treatment tablets. Typically Aqua30 is used under supervision in hospitals, clinics, schools and emergency field treatment centers.

Since its inception by RI District 1220, the Rotary Club of Wirksworth in Derbyshire, Aquabox have dispatched 94,051 boxes. Again, the value of these boxes has been shown this year with the recent disasters and the dispatch of 5,554 boxes to Albania, Haiti, Guatemala, Hungary, Romania, Pakistan, Saint Lucia and Niger.

The pictures below show (left) an Aquabox being opened in a family's new home under a tree - the destroyed home in the background and Aquaboxes being transported with flooded and destroyed cotton fields on both sides.

There is, however, a crying need for Aquabox to rebuild its stock as on 23^rd November 2010 Aquaboxes’ current on-hand stock amounted to 50 boxes.
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LifeBoxes

These were previously known as Emergency Boxes. The LifeBox is filled with 72 items of tools, clothes, blankets, babycare/hygiene items, toys and classroom materials and is available for both hot and cold climates with the contents lists specifically tailored by the Red Cross, each box providing vital aid for adults and children.

Also contained in the boxes are LifeStraws. LifeStraw is a portable water purification tool that cleanses surface water and makes it safe for human consumption. It is just 25 cm long and 29 mm in diameter and can be hung around the neck. LifeStraw requires no electrical power or spare parts. The life expectancy of a single straw can be up to one year from the start of usage (calculation based on the WHO estimate of typical adult consumption of 2 litres water per day) and so provides immediate aid and long term benefit.

As before, the value of these boxes has been shown in the seven weeks following the earthquake in Haiti 159 LifeBoxes and 900 LifeStraws have been shipped providing medium to long term aid to families.
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Vision Aid Overseas

Vision Aid Overseas collects and refurbishes spectacles for use in third-world Countries. This enables kids and adults to have vision again. Our spectacle collection for the project continues to thrive; we are now aiming to collect, with the help of our local colleagues 100,000 pairs.

The used spectacles are forwarded to Vision Aid who arrange for their refurbishment and recalibration. Then, after sight testing by volunteer optometrists from the UK and Ireland, they are dispatched to a wide range of countries in Africa, India and Asia.
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Jaipur Limbs Project

The Rotary Jaipur Limb Project (RJLP) is a pro-active fund-raising and project-initiating body of Rotarians, drawn from all over RIBI. It was formed in 1985 (becoming a registered charity in 1995). As such this year it is celebrating 25 years of service.

The Jaipur Limb is an artificial leg, developed at the Mahaveer hospital in Jaipur, India. The unique component is the Jaipur foot, a clever combination of wood and various densities of rubber vulcanised into a realistic looking brown foot. It is hard-wearing and will last for three or four years, longer if worn with a shoe. One of the major differences between the Jaipur technology and western technology is the cost - whereas a western limb will cost between £1,000.00 and £2,000.00, a Jaipur limb can be made and fitted for as little as £25.00.

RJLP have recently announced a new initiative to build a limb camp to help the 5,000 victims in Haiti (following the earthquake January 2010) requiring artificial limbs, many of them emergency "chainsaw amputees". To these amputees hope and expectation is often no more than a metal crutch.

Mackendy Francois, whose left leg was cut off to free him from earthquake rubble in the T-shirt factory where he worked, has a dream to return to the factory if he had an artificial limb.

A workshop and consulting area at the Bienfaisance Hospital in Pignon is being built, completion end December 2010, together with a new Orthopaedic Training School, including demonstration/classroom, trainee accommodation and trainer’s quarters. Initially funded from the RIBI Haiti Appeal augmented by funds from Districts 1110 & 1250 funding will also be required to provide equipment, materials and staff training.

Rotary District 1160 are financing, at a cost of £32,000, an off road 4x4 all terrain vehicle to transport the amputees to and from the Hospital unit, especially from the more remote areas.

The Club is pleased to support this project with funding to leave a specialized vehicle in the name of Rotary in Ireland doing essential work helping the people of Haiti.

When visiting India in 2009, PP Marnette Lyons had the opportunity to visit the Limb Centre (BMVSS) in Jaipur.

She says: "A few years after becoming a Rotarian I attended a District Meeting at which PDG Gussie Hynes, trustee of Rotary Jaipur Limb Trust Project, made a presentation on the Project and passed around a Jaipur Limb. It was a very moving presentation and one which I am sure all who were present still remember.

A visit to the Limb Centre was my priority and five others in my group were also keen to see it. After asking directions from some locals and looking at maps we had a general idea where the Limb Centre was located and so we set out to find it. Eventually, we reached a small building off the main thoroughfare. On arrival we noticed people, in a covered way, sitting on benches and on the ground waiting. Meanwhile a tall distinguished looking gentleman, who was busy checking reports, immediately spotted and greeted us with a warm smile and the words, “You must be Rotarians”. Introductions soon made us aware that the gentleman was D.R.Mehta the founder and chief patron of Jaipur Foot. Following a car accident in which he broke several bones in his leg and faced the possible prospect of amputation Mr Mehta, whose profession was in law and administration, became aware of the plight of millions of poor people unable to cope with life and in need of prosthetic limbs. He observed the degrading way in which these poor, staving and desperate people, crippled or without limbs, were treated and he knew it must change.

We were told that most patients arrive unannounced, starved and penniless with nowhere to stay. Every patient is treated with dignity and is registered upon arrival no matter what time of day or night. Patients are provided with food, assessed, treated and given accommodation while their limb is being made. The entire service is provided free."

Marnette's full report Not Just a Limb - The Japur Limb Centre can be found here.

Mr.D.R.Mehta	With 2 new limbs this patient goes home walking
A polio patient is given a hand-pedal tricycle

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An excerpt from her visit-report has been printed in the Newsletter of the RJLP (seen here). The Newsletter also contains reports of the work of RJLP - including the development of the Jaipur Knee.
 
Recently students at The Stanford University in California USA in conjunction with the Jaipur foot people have developed a new knee joint named The Jaipur Knee. This self-lubricating oil-filled nylon joint mimics the movements of the natural joint's movements and is flexible enough to let the wearer walk on rough terrain.

The cost of production of this new knee was a fundamental feature of the design specification. The outcome of that is a cost of just US$20 which matches current cost criteria very well.

Over 500 of these joints have so far been fitted at the BMVSS centre in Jaipur.  There have been excellent results from the development and the hope now, is for more training to extend the use.
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