ROTARY SHELTERBOX IN ACTION TO RESPOND TO DISASTER AREA

ROTARY SHELTERBOX 

IN ACTION TO RESPOND TO DISASTER AREA

By PDG Rodolfo C Balmater - RC. Jakarta Gambir

Adviser, Yayasan Rotary ShelterBox Indonesia

On 25 October 2010, an earthquake of 7.6 richter  scale hit the Indian Ocean not far from South Sumatra and brought a massive waves which obliterated a part of Island Mentawai and more than 420 people perished and brought destructions to many houses and infrastructure in the Mentawai Island. 

How does Rotary ShelterBox  respond?

Yayasan Rotary ShelterBox Indonesia under the able leadership of Ms Eva Kurniaty contacted the National Disaster Management Agency expressing the willingness to provide quickly more than 300 shelterboxes to the victims. These shelterboxes can be deployed in 24 hours with the support of National Disaster Management Agency and related state-owned enterprises such as Garuda/Merpati to the nearest Airport such as Padang and could be dispatched by available ships to the victims area of Sikakap, Mentawai.

Knowing that 300 shelterboxes are not enough to meet the requirements of the Mentawai victims, Ms Eva Kurniaty alerted  Mr Tom Hendersen, Chairman of the International ShelterBox in London, UK to mobilize 1,000 shelterboxes for Indonesia. And as of todate, 400 shelterboxes reached Cengkareng Airport and ready for delivery to Padang City .

In addition to the above actions, there are nine (9) ShelterBox Response Team (SRT)  who quickly flew to Jakarta to help deployed the shelterboxes to the victims area. As of todate, these SRT team include 5 persons from United Kingdom, 2 persons from USA,  1 Canadian & 1 Australian. These are professionals who are now in Padang  volunteered their time & efforts to deploy the shelterboxes in the Sikakap area of  Mentawai island.

What is the benefit of Shelterbox to the victims?

The major benefit of Shelterbox is to provide  the victims temporary living facilities with Warmth, Dignity, & Comfort who lost everything in a disaster. What is inside the shelterbox? It provides the victims with mosquito nets, 2 boxes of water purification tablets, enough to treat water for 10 people for six months, 2 colapsible 2 gallon water containers, 4 waterproof ground sheets with blanket lining, 50-feet nylon rope, multifuel stove, 10 thermal blankets or sleeping bags, 2 cooking pots & utensils, children’s school supplies, dishes & eating utensils, etc. The shelterbox, indeed, contains all the necessary facilities to provide comfort to the victims.

What is the action plan of Yayasan Rotary ShelterBox  Indonesia?

Under the leadership of Ms Eva Kurniaty, a fund raising activity is put in place to generate money so that shelterboxes are ready on hand in Indonesia to respond quickly  to victims of disasters. Given the adequate facilities as described above, each shelterbox cost around US$ 1,000. In fact in the last 5 years, Indonesia has received under  the leadership of Mr Tom Henderson of United Kingdom, for free more than 10,000  ShelterBoxes deployed to Banda Aceh Tsunami in 2004, earthquake in Jogjakarta in 2005, earthquake in Pangandaran, West Java in 2006,  Padang , West Sumatra in 2008, Sumba in 2009 and today in Mentawai.

The fund raising golf activities on 24 November 2010 has generated major supports from the following donors:

Donations US$10,000 & above

(a)    PT Telkom & Medika

(b)   PT Kapal Api

(c)    Wing Chai Realty Developer

(d)   Nyra of Mr Sofian Susantio

Donations US$1,000 & above

(a)    PT Sumber Bintang Rejeki

(b)   PT Slamet  Rahardjo

(c)    PT Medco

(d)   M150 & Isotonik

(e)   Credo Developer , Singapore

The other donors come from Rotary Clubs such as RC Tangerang, RC Jakarta Sentral, RC Jakarta Metropolitan, RC Jakarta Gambir, RC Jakarta Cilandak, RC Jakarta  Prapatan, RC Pekalongan, RC Surabaya Kaliasin, RC Surabaya, RC Surabaya Selatan, RC Surabaya Rungkut, RC Batam, RC Surabaya Jembatan Merah, RC Jakarta Sunter Centennial, & countless individuals such as Rtn Ali Cheko, Rtn Slamet Hartono friends, Razul &  Lionardi family.

As of today, Yayasan Rotary ShelterBox has accumulated donations nearly Rp 1 billion or equivalent to US$100,000. This fund will provide nearly 100 pieces of shelterbox for deployment with dispatch to the disaster area under the coordination with government’s National Disaster Management Agency. 

As of  8 November 2010 afternoon, ships are loading 324 shelterboxes in Padang Port for delivery & deployment to Sikakap Area , hardest hit by the tsunami last 25 October. In this effort, Rotary can contribute to addressing the needs of humanity----victims of disaster.  Certainly this effort is a God-given gift to all of us to lend a hand to the poor people who lost everything they treasured in life.

Hopefully, ShelterBox International can contribute ,even in a small way,  uplifting the needs of the victims. 

This is the spirit of Rotary’s Motto: SERVICE-ABOVE SELF.