Thursday 12 April 2012
Reuniting families in Congo
A Congolese family in their new ShelterBox tent
Many thousands of people were left homeless after several explosions ripped apart the Mpila neighborhood in Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo. As a result, they have been staying in overcrowded temporary shelter camps but ShelterBox has been distributing emergency aid to help people return to their land as quickly as possible.
Cédric Neuville is a ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) volunteer based in France who travelled to the Congo to assist with the distribution of tents and other life-saving equipment.
“This is my first deployment so far with ShelterBox. I got a great feeling helping these people in the areas directly affected by the explosion, close to their homes, so they can have a shelter during this rainy season. Families can now return to their homes and begin to rebuild their lives. The Response Team, working closely with Rotarians from all 3 Brazzaville clubs and staff from SDV Congo-Bolloré Africa Logistics, will continue this process of pitching tents directly in the affected zone.”
UK-based SRT member Ross Preston and France-based Cédric Neuville
The team has been working with the local communities and training them to pitch tents enabling them to be part of the solution. So far, 64 families have been sheltered and hundreds more tents are in the process of being distributed.
Following the explosion, many families were separated and allowing them to return to their own land with a safe shelter to sleep in is assisting in reuniting communities. Neuville spoke with Sobonko Augustine whose children are currently living with her brother’s wife.
Neuville added “My thanks go out to all ShelterBox supporters around the world, whose support has had a huge and positive impact to the people of Congo.”
