A Cornwall-based disaster relief charity is helping put a roof over the heads of thousands of families caught in a humanitarian catastrophe in Africa.
ShelterBox has dispatched enough of their trademark green crates to provide temporary homes for 2,000 displaced families in Kenya and Ethiopia following the worst famine in twenty years.
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A further 1,600 ShelterBoxes are also en route to Ethiopia in what is likely to be a long-term humanitarian response from the charity.
Aid worker Ingrid Criddle was part of a team visiting the Dadaab refugee camp, 100 kilometres from the Kenya and Somalia border to assess the need for ShelterBox aid.
She said the scale of suffering was immense and the crates, which contain a tent, blankets, cooking and water purification equipment for up to ten people, would save lives.
"There's an overwhelming need throughout the region and our number one priority is to deliver emergency shelter to the most vulnerable groups," she said.
"The refugee camps in Dadaab were originally designed to accommodate up to 90,000 refugees, but according to the latest figures there are now close to 400,000 people living in and around the three camps.
"The Office for Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs states that as of July 24 there were 28,000 refugees residing outside the camps and awaiting registration. The camp is enormous, it's now around the size of Bristol."
Large numbers of refugees have continued to flee from Somalia into neighbouring Kenya and Ethiopia as the famine and drought worsens.
ShelterBox is also working with Save the Children in the Dolo Ado region of Ethiopia to provide shelter for some of the most vulnerable refugees.
David Ray said the charity was helping to provide the for people who literally had nothing.
"These children are suffering the dual blows of severe malnutrition and the loss of family members. ShelterBox aid will provide the comfort of shelter, warmth and dignity at a time of unimaginable suffering."
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