In Pictures: Our Coronavirus Response

We are working to help families in Honduras who lost their homes to Hurricanes Eta and Iota. The two ferocious storms slammed into Honduras, Nicaragua and other parts of Central America in November 2020 causing severe destruction. We have partnered with Habitat for Humanity Honduras to support 3,208 families affected by Eta and Iota with a shelter kit and household items. We are also working with the Rotary Club of Pedro Sula who is supporting us with the response.

In these photos, Rotary Club San Pedro Sula is offloading the trucks in the warehouse they have kindly provided for the project whilst Hábitat para la Humanidad Honduras is instructing volunteers to help count, inspect, and repack aid items so they are ready for distribution.

The aid items need to be repacked to make up family packages including shelter and household items that will vary depending on the location or specific vulnerabilities identified.

Hábitat Honduras recruited volunteers who are lending a hand at the warehouse as more trucks arrive over the coming week to deliver aid items for over 3000 households. Despite the current coronavirus restrictions, over 200 volunteers have signed up to help support the communities displaced across the country. Health protocols have been put in place so volunteers can safely help at the warehouse.

Rotary Club San Pedro Sula is offloading the trucks in the warehouse they have kindly provided for the project whilst Hábitat para la Humanidad Honduras is instructing volunteers to help count, inspect, and repack aid items so they are ready for distribution.

Across the north of Nigeria, many families are living in constant fear of horrific attacks led by Non-state armed groups (Boko Haram).

The ongoing threat of violence has resulted in thousands of people fleeing their homes in search of safety. As well as this, a severe rainy season has damaged thousands of shelters, leaving men, women and children already displaced by the conflict, extremely vulnerable.

Throughout December 2020 and January 2021, we worked with our partner ACTED in Nigeria to support 1,548 families across two camps with emergency shelter kits.

ShelterBox aid arrives in Odisha, India.

Torrential monsoon rains and severe flash flooding led to more than 17 million people being affected across India in 2020. The intense downpour heightened an already vulnerable situation, as many families were still recovering from the devastating aftermath of Super Cyclone Amphan which tore through the Bay of Bengal in May.

We are working with our trusted partner Habitat for Humanity India (HFH India) to support people affected by the floods in Odisha. Together we are supporting 1,800 families with tarpaulin, rope, mosquito nets, kitchen sets, sleeping mats, water filters and other essential household items.

We responded in the Philippines after a series of violent storms ripped through the country in October and November 2020.

Super Typhoon Goni left a trail of destruction in its wake. Almost 110,000 homes were damaged by Goni, with around 30,000 of them completely destroyed. Many towns experienced power outages and blocked roads

Our partners on the ground Humanity & Inclusion (HI) and Simon of Cyrene (SoC) distributed shelter kits, solar lights, rope and other household items to families displaced by the disaster. At the distribution site, families were checked at the entrance (facemask on and temperature check), name validated, and hands sprayed with alcohol. Once confirmed, they were assisted to their respective set number while waiting for the other recipient on that time schedule.

52-year-old Nora’s home was destroyed when Typhoon Goni (known locally as Rolly) ripped through her community in October 2020. She later collected a shelter kit and other essential aid items to help her and her family rebuild.

Upon receiving the items, she said: “The middle of our roof was broken so the water was dripping into our home. Then our kitchen was destroyed, the walls are really broken. We picked up the corrugated iron and put it on for a while, but it is still dripping. There are still ten of us in the house, two small ones, my youngest is the third. So, we are grateful for this tarpaulin.”

62-year-old Jovel lost his home when Typhoon Goni (known locally as Rolly) ripped through his community destroying everything in its path.

“The wind blew my whole house away. All that is left is one pillar and the clothes I am wearing. I just made my living space somehow. I salvaged some lumbers that I found after the typhoon and I made small space that can just fit me so I have shelter to stay for the mean time.”

Cyclone Amphan was the strongest tropical cyclone to strike the River Ganges Delta since 1999. It tore through coastal regions of north-east India and neighbouring Bangladesh earlier this year. In India alone, 1.7 million homes were destroyed.

We have worked with our trusted partner Habitat for Humanity India to distribute essential aid items to 1,400 families in the Sundarbans, one of the areas worst hit by Amphan.

Amongst others, families received a basic hygiene kit to help prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Tanushree Adhikari (front and centre) in front of the house with her entire family. Tanushree was one of the people we have supported in India following Cyclone Amphan that hit the country in 2020.

During essential aid distributions in India in 2020, following Cyclone Amphan.

The village at Taldi where we have worked together with our partners to provide families with essential aid and enable them to rebuild following Cyclone Amphan.

In this photo Nirapada Sardar, one of the people who we’ve supported, stands in front of his house with his grandson.

Last year, we worked with our partner Terres des Hommes (TdH), to provide essential aid to families who have seen their homes totally destroyed by Typhoon Vongfong that devastated parts of the Philippines in May 2020. This image shows aid items being stored and loaded into the local warehouse in Eastern Samar ready for distributions.

Socially distanced seating at aid distributions in the Philippines. Families whose homes were damaged by Typhoon Vongfong received training on how best to use our aid items before taking them home to rebuild. Our project aimed to decongest evacuation centres, providing some private space for families to allow them to protect themselves from coronavirus.

Handwashing stations at aid distributions in the Philippines. Coronavirus mitigations were put in place to ensure the safety of our team members and our partners attending the distributions, as well as the families we are helping. Mitigation measures included physical distancing, handwashing, and the use of personal protective equipment (PPE).

Throughout July 2020, conflict and violence continued in Syria. There are now more than 1.2 million people displaced in Idlib province alone. As well as the continuous violence, families displaced now have the threat of coronavirus to add to their worries.

Throughout these difficult times we have continued to work with our partners Reliefaid to support those displaced by the conflict. In this photo you can see the ReliefAid team undertaking needs assessments to understand what support people need.

In Burkina Faso, more than 920,000 people had been forced to flee their homes due to extremist violence. This has led to the country having one of the fastest-growing displacement crises in Africa. We have been working with our partner Help Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe to support the most vulnerable communities.

Distributions taking place in June 2020 in Cameroon with our long-term partner IEDA Relief. This was Project 8 which included 743 tents with household items including water carriers, kitchen sets and blankets, 560 shelter kits, 2,000 tarpaulins and rope, and additional household items for families with added vulnerabilities. Distributions were held to support families displaced by the ongoing conflict in the Northern Region of Cameroon and the Lake Chad Basin.

Distributions of tarpaulin, kitchen sets and other household items to families displaced by conflict in the West Guji area, Ethiopia in 2020. Since leaving their homes, some families had been living in clusters of makeshift shelters, many using banana leaves for roofing material.

To mitigate against coronavirus, we displayed banners with key coronavirus messaging at all distributions with a health specialist present to answer questions. Here he can be seen teaching handwashing techniques to people as they wait to receive ShelterBox aid.

The field team train men and women on how to use the ShelterBox aid items ahead of distributions.

ShelterBox Operations Philippines has worked with a local NGO, Yakap sa Kaunlaranng Bata, Inc. (YKBI), to distribute aid to nearly 2,000 families who became displaced when the Taal Volcano erupted in January 2020. The aim was to increase the size of the shared accommodation, allowing families space for physical distancing to prevent the speed of coronavirus. Before receiving the aid, people got their temperature checked, and washed their hands and feet. They were then validated for the aid with identification before collecting it.

This is Rexon at the distributions of ShelterBox aid items in the Philippines. He became displaced after Taal Volcano erupted in January 2020. Speaking to our local partner YKBI he said: “First of all, thank God that everyone is safe. To ShelterBox, thank you so much, this is a big help to us. Godbless.”

When Leona collected the aid items pictured, she told us: “Thank you so much for the things we received. This is a huge help especially the solar lights, we badly needed this. ShelterBox is also a great blessing to us and we can use these items for emergency purposes.”

This is Catalina from the Philippines. She became displaced after Taal Volcano erupted in January 2020. We have supported her with some essential items that will help her to safely distance and protect herself from coronavirus. She said: “I am very pleased with your great help. We have used the tarpaulin because our roof has a hole. Solar lights are also very useful. We thank YKBI, ShelterBox, and Rotary.”

Handwashing stations were in place in Somaliland, where we have supported families who have been forced to leave their homes due to drought. We also limited distributions to 50 people at a time to minimise physical contact and ensure that people were maintaining a safe distance from each other.

Nadin (10) washing her hands in a camp in Idlib, Syria. She told us “The soap is good to clean our hands and stop the spread of the virus.” . We have provided essential aid items as well as hand soap and washing basins to enable families to protect themselves from the deadly coronavirus.

Our aid distributions in Somaliland have included preventative measures for coronavirus, such as handwashing stations and limiting distributions to 50 people at a time. This aimed to minimise physical contact and ensure that people were maintaining a safe distance from each other.

Women in Somaliland in a social distancing queue as they wait to receive ShelterBox aid. We have supported families in Somaliland who were dealing with the fallout of severe and persistent drought.

Reda (aged 5) told us, “I am wearing a mask because my Mum told me it will protect me from coronavirus.” Reda is pictured here with ShelterBox aid.

Maryam, 12 years old,  washes her hands using the soad and washing basins we have provided. She told us “It is important we keep clean to protect ourselves from the virus”.

We’re providing essential aid items in Syria which will help people to keep distance from each other and stay as healthy as possible.

ShelterBox aid arrives at a displacement camp in Syria

Our partners, ReliefAid, have been taking extra precautions to keep themselves and the people living in camps protected from coronavirus.

Our aid is unloaded after arriving at a camp in Syria. ReliefAid workers are taking extra care during distributins, including wearing face masks and gloves, frequent hand washing, and maintaining a distance from people in the camps.

Whilst many of us are queuing at safe distances to enter supermarkets, in Syria families queue for essential aid.

Our frontline workers. The ReliefAid team haven’t let coronavirus stop our aid from getting to the people who need it the most.

A woman collects ShelterBox aid. Many families don’t have the basics they need to protect themselves, like shelter and soap.

Hospital workers from Eversley Sanitorium in the Philippines collect tarpaulins and ropes. The hospital used these items to create extra spaces to treat patients in both emergency admissions and triage areas.

We provided tarpaulins, ropes, and fixings to Eversley Sanitarium, a public hospital in Cebu, Philippines. The aid was used to create extra spaces to treat vulnerable patients in both emergencies and triage areas. This is to help the hospital from becoming overcrowded.

Nancy Sabuero (pictured right), the Head of Medical Social Services Unit (MSSU) unit from the hospital said: “We would like to thank the ShelterBox for donating supplies for our much-needed Holding Area and Triage. These facilities were set-up adjacent to the Emergency Room. All cases/patients therefore before entering the emergency room pass through the triaging (triage area). The Holding area serves as temporary accommodation for patients that may need a referral or transfer to our Isolation Ward (quarantine ward) or a referral to another hospital but cannot be transported yet for some other reasons. We are thankful that ShelterBox Operations Philippines came in on the most important time that we need it the most, and that our patients need it the most.”

Hospital workers make up beds in the new Holding and Triage areas that the hospital have been able to build using ShelterBox aid.

Our partner IEDA Relief offloading ShelterBox aid arriving in Cameroon in preparation for distributions. The IEDA Relief team have been protecting themselves and the communities they support by wearing face masks and gloves, and using hand sanitiser.