Relief for refugees as ShelterBox provides aid

Each Shelterbox supplies an extended family of up to 10 people with a tent and lifesaving equipment to use while they are displaced or homeless due to natural disaster.

The contents are tailored depending on the nature and location of the disaster, with great care taken sourcing every item to ensure it is robust enough to be of lasting value to those affected.

Somali refugees have expressed their relief to ShelterBox now that they have somewhere to shelter their families.

Nearly three thousand ShelterBox tents have been pitched at the IFO2 refugee camp in Dadaab, Kenya. The tents will provide shelter and security for families who have fled famine, drought and conflict in Somalia.

Response Team member, Lizzy Treglown from the UK (pictured above), said: ‘It’s almost impossible to imagine what many of these refugees have been through prior to reaching the refugee camps. The lady in the photo has a large family and we had just helped them to move into their new tent. She was so happy and proud of her new home.’

ShelterBox has provided over 4,500 tents for refugee families in Dadaab and more are on their way. Each day teams from a range of organisations go out to identify and mark suitable sites, erect tents and ensure that there are adequate water and sanitary facilities.

‘ShelterBox is helping on a huge scale and our tents are perfect for the tough conditions here’, explained Lizzy. ‘Each tent can accommodate an extended family and offers protection from the harsh physical conditions of the camp.’

Hundreds of Somali families continue to arrive at the refugee camp in Dadaab every day. Originally designed for 90,000 people it now hosts a population of approximately 440,000 refugees, 150,000 of whom have arrived in the last months alone.

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