Canadian Deployed to Malawi

200 ShelterBoxes are being distributed in Malawi after a series of earthquakes brought devastation to thousands of people.

The three weeks of tremors that struck the northern district of Karonga last month left more than 4,000 households in need of emergency shelter. One quake measured 6.2 on the Richter Scale and prompted the government to declare a national emergency.

Last week a ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) made up of Larry Agee, John Cordell and Scott Robinson, all from the United States, and Canadian Dave Hallett, travelled to the south-east African country to oversee the distribution of 200 disaster relief tents and other emergency supplies.

Larry described how aftershocks were still being felt in Karonga. ‘We are seeing a lot of damaged homes with many completely destroyed,’ he said. ‘People whose homes are still standing are too afraid to go back in as quakes are still happening. Many are sleeping outside their homesteads to protect belongings and start the planting season. Others feel if they do not return to their homesteads soon they will have food shortages in the months to come. Family-size tents at people’s homesteads are proving essential.’

The ShelterBoxes are being deployed with support from the US-based charity Marion Medical Mission. The team is also liaising with the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies during the distribution.

Malawi is situated at the southern end of the Great Rift Valley - a 5,000-kilometer-long fault line that runs north-south from Lebanon to Mozambique - a position that makes the country vulnerable to earthquakes.