It is now 26 months since the Asian Tsunami struck and the Club rallied to the cause by raising funds for Shelter Boxes to be purchased
and flown out to the various disaster areas in Sri Lanka. Since then, we continued with our fundraising and have now contributed a total of
58 boxes that have been used in various other parts of the world where both natural and man-made disasters have struck.  In total, the
Rotary Club of Heston & Isleworth have contributed 58 Shelter Boxes at a cost of £28,420 that have been used to support displaced
families in Sri Lanka, Pakistan (after the earthquake), Uganda, Yei in the Sudan, Yogyakarta in Java and Tsunami struck locations in the
Ache province.

Photographer Mark Pearson has documented the Shelter Box story and some of his images are reproduced here with his permission.

An Exhibition of  Mark's photographs is opening at the Salvation Army International Headquarter
on Wednesday February 20th until Friday March 16th. (Open Monday to Fridays only - 07:30 to 16:30.
 

Shelterbox is a humanitarian organisation run by the Helston and Lizard Rotary club in Cornwall, England. The Shelterbox
concept was invented by Tom Henderson an ex Royal Navy search and rescue diver who realised the need for a lifesaving
shelter kit to the people directly affected by disaster be it civil or natural. The boxes are sent to anywhere in the world in a
few hours notice. Requests for Shelterboxes  have been made and delivered to Oxfam, UNHCR, Mercy Malasia, Red Cross
etc. During the Asian Tsunami  Shelterbox provided shelter for 150,000 people in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Maldives, The
Andaman and Nicobar islands and more recently the destroyed islands of Nias and Simileu.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Mark Pearson  who has kindly agreed or us to reproduce his images on our website is a professional photographer who
donates his time and expertise to Shelter box.  Working as a humanitarian photographer he is, unlike the press, able to
gain access to areas worldwide which the news and media are not allowed to venture into.  In the past Mark has worked for
a number of charities including, the Red Cross, United Nations, Oxfam, Mercy Malaysia and Unicef.  Due to the nature of
his work Mark is often one of the first representatives on the ground, and gets personally involved in co-coordinating areas
of the rescue and the distribution of shelter box.