The Australian government has delivered 50 ShelterBoxes to Taveuni and over 60 shelter boxes to Koro Island, through the assistance of the Australian Defence Force.

A ShelterBox contains a specially designed disaster relief tent for a family. The tent is designed to withstand extreme temperatures, high winds and heavy rainfall. Internally, each tent has privacy partitions that allow recipients to divide the space as they see fit.

Interim chief executive of ShelterBoxUK Chris Warham said the challenging response such as the ravages after Cyclone Winston was quite daunting.

“The challenging responses, such as this in Fiji, so often require effective partnership and a pooling of resources and experience,” Mr Warham said.

“Quite simply, without the assistance and expertise of the Australian Defence Force, ShelterBox would not have reached some outlying islands so quickly.”

The ShelterBox kits also include a range of other equipment including insulated ground sheets, mosquito nets, and water purification tablets and other basic tools for those affected during the cyclone.

Over the last few weeks, the Australian Defence Force has moved over 200,000 kilograms of essential humanitarian supplies and equipment by air, sea and land across Fiji.

Working closely with Government, Australia is helping to meet the urgent needs of communities affected by Cyclone Winston.  An initial package of assistance of FJ$ 23million has been provided so far and Australia will continue to work with the Government to support Fiji’s long-term recovery.

Source: Australian Defence Force.

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