Training to distribute aid boxes

By Jonathan Morris
BBC News

The latest consignment of 1,000 Shelterboxes arrives in Rangoon

Cornish-based charity Shelterbox has been training Burmese workers to distribute its boxes of aid which are being sent to cyclone victims.

Shelterbox has sent 1,600 boxes to the country hit by Cyclone Nargis.

The charity's workers are not allowed outside Rangoon but say they have seen Shelterboxes being handed out on national Burmese television.

The Red Cross and UN both say the death toll in Burma, also known as Myanmar, could top 100,000.

Helston-based Shelterbox distributes tough, green plastic boxes containing a 10-person tent and enough equipment to house a large family for at least six months.

The charity has sent two consignments of the aid boxes, 1,000 of which arrived in Rangoon this week, and the charity's volunteers in the city have trained 160 Burmese fire and rescue workers to go to affected areas to distribute the boxes.

We don't have a strategy of just spraying aid around Shelterbox director Ian Munday

Burma's authorities have welcomed aid donations from all over the world, but only a few foreign experts have been allowed into the country to help organise the relief effort.

Shelterbox director Ian Munday told BBC News that anecdotal evidence indicated that its aid was getting through.

Each box contains two 10-person tents

"But we don't have a strategy of just spraying aid around and we shall keep people on the ground in Burma until we have confirmed all our equipment has been delivered."

The charity was working with aid agencies in Burma to establish where its boxes were going.

Shelterboxes are aimed specifically at helping people in the first days of a catastrophe.

Mr Munday said: "It is frustrating, but it is reality and you have to be pragmatic.

"At the moment it is all about getting credibility and trust."

The charity says it still needs donations for Shelterboxes to help restock its supplies and is waiting until donations build up again so it can afford to send another shipment of boxes to Burma.

The charity has also sent 400 boxes to earthquake-hit China.