The cyclone disaster in Burma may well end up being on a par with that of the Asian Tsunami of 2004. I don’t know about other countries, but in the UK there has been talk of aid simply being air dropped to the affected places without gaining the permission of the ruling Military Junta.
One person who is in favour of doing this is the leader of the Liberal Democrat party, Nick Clegg, and the BBC has an article about this idea that you can read here. However, the Labour Government’s Development Secretary said that such a course would be “incendiary,” and the wrong action to take.
But, down here in Cornwall, there is a disaster relief organisation that has managed to get into Burma. The organisation is Shelter Box, and it sends relief to disaster zones in the form of survival boxes that hold a tent and enough equipment to house a family of ten for six months, including cooking utensils and water purification kits.
When the cyclone occurred they managed to get visas for 4 of their volunteers to accompany the boxes to Burma, and these volunteers have been distributing the aid. And it has just been confirmed that they were the very first UK relief team to land in Burma.
Shelter Box has worked in 44 different countries, and Burma allowed them in because: “our reputation and the quality of the product, persuaded the Burmese authorities to give us visas.” A week ago they sent 200 boxes, and another 1,000 boxes are now on their way.
Personally, whenever there is a disaster I give my donation to Shelter Box. They are very quick to respond, anywhere in the world, and they do really sterling work in relieving the suffering these disasters cause. If you would also like to donate to them you can do so by clicking here.
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