aquabox

 

Cast your minds back to late August this year.

 

Can you recall headlines that hit our national press? They recounted disturbing stories of hundreds of thousands of citizens in Kerala, Southern India, literally being washed out of their homes as a result of devastating floods?

 

As this was happening, thousands of miles away, this time SW Cameroon, in Africa, innumerable numbers of citizens were being displaced, their villages burned down, violence perpetrated against them by the military under the control of the government. These villagers had no option other than to live in the bush as their physical communities no longer existed. Did you even know this was happening?

 

Then press headlines once more took centre stage.

At the end of September, Typhoon Omphong (Mangkhut) hit the northern region of the Philippines, triggering flash floods, storm surges and wholesale landslides. Over a quarter of a million people were displaced; over 100 lost their lives. Health centres were unable to function and so the situation progressively worsened.

 

And finally, in our two month Aquabox odyssey, came the news that a massive earthquake and tsunami hit Indonesia, centred around the city of Palu.  Almost 900 people lost their lives, many buried in massed graves to prevent the spread of disease. Other stories emerged detailing suffering too harrowing to report here.

 

Here are are some common factors in all these tragedies:

 

The lives of individuals and whole communities can be destroyed in a frighteningly short time. The health of citizens is immediately at risk and access to safe drinking water is of paramount importance.

In each of the above human catastrophes, Aquabox was instrumental in providing meaningful, immediate and sustainable support. It supplied water purification filters and other items of humanitarian aid, all of which was distributed, securely and appropriately by our long-standing partners on the ground. (Rotary International in particular, was well placed for accurate assessment of need.)

Since the filters can function for several years, this output may continue way beyond the immediate need.

Without clean drinking water, people suffer from the most debilitating diseases and this significantly impacts on their ability to rebuild and regenerate their communities and local economies.

We, at Aquabox, are extremely proud of what we achieve. We are a truly volunteer led charity with no ‘fat cat’ board of directors. Our 70+ volunteers are our engine-room and quite simply without them we could not do what we do.

 

We rely TOTALLY on donations to continue our life-saving work. Can you help?

 

If you feel you are able to support us, details of how to do this can be found on our website www.aquabox.org  Alternatively cheques payable to Aquabox can be sent to Aquabox, PO  Box 5398, Matlock, Derbyshire DE4 4ZP

 

Find out more about our work on our Facebook page or come along to see us at work at our depot. You can book in a trip through our website. We would welcome your interest.