Wednesday 8th February 2012
Shelterbox charity aids Uganda
Wednesday 17th March 2010 15:12
Mudslide children: getting a "school in a box"
Image:Reuters
Shelterbox, the Cornish aid organisation, has sent 10 tented school rooms to Mbale in the East of Uganda.
More than 1,300 children are living in a refugee camp in Mbale after being made homeless by mudslides.
The city is close to the Buduba region of Uganda, where torrential rain caused landslides. At least three hillside villages were buried and around 350 people killed.
Each "school in a box" provides the materials for teaching 50 pupils. It is hoped that the schools will bring some sense of normality to the children of the camp.
'Desperate'
UCFJourno reporter Stuart Oates is a Shelterbox volunteer who has been deployed to assess the needs of thousands of refugees from the disaster. He has arrived in Uganda with his Shelterbox co-worker, Laura Dale.
He described conditions at the refugee camp in Mbale as a "desperate affair".
Existing tents at the refugee camp are huge. Each one is shared by over 100 people. Families are being split up and children are becoming sick.
Shelterbox is also sending at least 100 of its standard rescue boxes to Uganda to arrive over the next few days.
The boxes contain a 10-man tent, tools and equipment for cooking and water purification. They give families a temporary home while they wait to go home to rebuild thier lives.