shelterbox

Scouts lend ShelterBox a helpful hand in Brazil

Scouts from three different Brazilian states travelled great distances to assist a ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) in setting up camps, providing emergency shelter to families made homeless by recent floods and mudslides in eastern Brazil. 

For the third time in two years, Brazilian scouts were prepared to help ShelterBox deliver aid to displaced people in need of shelter, even if it meant travelling long distances through the night. Thirty scouts from Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Minas Gerais joined forces with the SRT and local volunteers to help put up ShelterBox tents in the devastated areas of Japamapará and Além Paraíba. In two swelteringly hot days, tents became homes for around 70 families. 

ShelterBox Response Team volunteer David Hatcher (UK) praised the scouts for their efforts: ‘True to the scout motto, be prepared and do your best. I was extremely proud and honoured to know that so many Brazilian young people had collectively travelled more than 8000km in the true spirit of humanitarian aid to help the people of Além Paraíba and Japamapará. Scouts and donors from around the world have expressed their love in a very practical way.’ 

As the scouts prepared to travel back to their homes, they saw the hope and joy in the families who were moving into the ShelterBox tents. Marciano Montoni together with his wife Mariana Montoni, two year old daughter Naira and baby son Marcello lost everything in the floods. 

‘We are very sad to have lost our home, especially because of the children,’ said Marciano. ‘I really like our new home that ShelterBox has provided because it will be a temporary and comfortable house. Without ShelterBox’s help we would have to sleep on the street.’ 

Lais Henriques de Mattos, a scout from Rio de Janeiro, was very moved to know she was a part of an effort that is changing the lives of people who lost everything and said: ‘This is the first time I have contact with people directly affected by a disaster, it is a lesson for life.’ 

Flavio Menzer, a scout from Minas Gerais, said: ‘It is an honour for me and my friends to be here helping people and living our scout promise.’ 

Scout leader Fabricio Gabriel said the Scouts of Brazil are very proud to be working with ShelterBox in this action: ‘We brought hope, dignity and a little bit of comfort to families who have lost almost everything.’ 

‘ShelterBox can always count on us,’ said another scout leader from São Paulo, Arnoldo Wilde. 

This collaboration comes at a very special moment for ShelterBox and the Brazilian Scouts Association. The two organisations are working towards the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding. The agreement foresees the development of educational tools that will help scouts remain prepared for disasters.    

ShelterBox and Scouts bring shelter to Arkansas

ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) members, Rotarians and the Boy Scouts of America, have distributed emergency shelter and ancillary aid for families affected by the tornadoes in Arkansas. 

The ShelterBoxes were distributed on June 9 in Altus and Denning, Arkansas; two of the worst affected areas of the state which were devastated by the massive storm system that swept across the United States. It was the same storm system that lead to the tornado, the worst to hit American soil in 60 years, that destroyed much of Joplin, Missouri. 

ShelterBox Founder and CEO, Tom Henderson, said: ‘I give huge credit to the work of our Response Team volunteers. In a case like this where storms covered such a huge area, our team went to great lengths to make sure no pockets of devastation were missed.’ 

SRT members Mark Dyer (US), Yi Shun Lai (US) and Tim Osburn (US) worked with members of the Altus Sunset Rotary Club to identify families whose homes were destroyed. The club helped to arrange a volunteer work force to assemble tents and distribute aid, including more than 40 Boy Scouts and leaders.

SRT member Tim Osburn, completing his first deployment since graduating as an SRT member earlier this year, said the support from Scouts and Rotary was invaluable. 

‘Seeing the devastation that this storm created was heartbreaking, homes and properties were just leveled,’ he said. ‘Having the Rotarians and Scouts show up to help us with distribution was absolutely fantastic. We had teams working in different locations around Altus and Denning, with these Boy Scouts – we only had to show them how to set up the tents once, then they got right to it.’ 

SRT member Mark Dyer added: ‘This is the second deployment where I’ve worked with Scouts in the field, the first being after the Japanese tsunami earlier this year, both have been great experiences. 

‘In temperatures that were over 90 degrees, they worked quickly to get families into disaster relief tents. The Scouts are always working hard and in the middle of so much devastation you can always count on them to put a smile on your face. 

‘Working with ShelterBox and showing their level of service, they’ve proved a great example of good citizenship in their community, in their nation, and in the world – cornerstones of the scouting program around the world.’ 

ShelterBox has programmes in place working with Scouts in the UK and in the USA. 

To find out more about ShelterBox and Scouts in the UK click here. 

To find out more about ShelterBox and Scouts in the USA click here.

Scouts support ShelterBox

International disaster relief charity, ShelterBox, and the Scout Association are working in partnership to help deliver emergency aid across the globe.