Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service Newsdesk

at 22/03/2009 16:18

Camborne firefighter Ian Neal, who serves with White watch, has just returned from distributing Shelterboxes to victims of conflict within South Sudan.

Ian has been involved with the Helston-based charity Shelterbox for 3 years and has completed 5 deployments, leading the last 3. He has helped people affected by flooding in Bolivia, set up IDP* camps in Somaliland and was deployed twice to Myanmar following cyclone Nargis.

Speaking of his work with Shelterbox, Ian explains, “I was deployed to South Sudan on 1 February as Team Leader with a team of 4. We were tasked to organise transportation and distribution of 700 Shelterboxes to the Abiyei region of Sudan. Abiyei was at the heart of the civil war between the North and South and still remains a special administration area neither designated to the North or South.

“We worked in partnership with KUSH, an international non government organisation which was running a homestead project. The project was returning IDPs back to the Abiyei region, supplying them with a sustainable clean water supply, allocation of land for agricultural use and materials to re-build there dwellings. The Shelterboxes will act as a temporary measure supplying tents, water purification, cookers, utensils, tools, and blankets until the community is in place.”

The team was successful in moving an initial 400 boxes from Juba to Abiyei, following negotiations with the head of the UN in Sudan and The Presidential Minister. Whilst in these negotiations they were told about a fire that had ripped through Nawayapura village and destroyed everything, leaving 10,000 people homeless.

Nawayapura village is a close-knit settlement which had managed to re-establish itself after the civil war. Sadly the fire was accidentally set by children playing and it totally destroyed their homes, belongings and food stocks. The UN were unable to fulfil the total requirement for shelter and other non food items to the village, so the Shelterbox team including Ian made up the shortfall with the remaining 300 boxes.

Chief Fire Officer Terry Standing adds, “We are very proud of the work that our staff do over and above their daily duties such as Ian’s work with Shelterbox. On behalf of the whole fire service, I would like to congratulate Ian and the other personnel involved in Shelterbox for the work that they undertake voluntarily to assist this worldwide disaster charity.”

Ken Yeo Public Protection Portfolio Holder says “I have been a supporter of the Shelterbox project since it began and have helped raise money to provide these green boxes that can be seen at all types of incidents around the world. I add my congratulations to Ian, one of our firefighters, and would encourage any reader to contribute to Shelterbox. It is a practical way we can all help and demonstrate Cornwall’s concern for disaster victims.”

- Ends -
Notes to editors

*Internally displaced person (IDP): Someone who has fled his or her home due to a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion or because of armed conflict, but who has not crossed an internationally recognized border.