Mike Freeman will be a part of a ShelterBox team of volunteers who will hand out food to refugees streaming into Rwanda from fighting between rebel and government forces in the neighboring Congo.
It will be his second such trip. He was in Zambia with ShelterBox in January in response to flooding in that country.
Why does he do it?
"Once I retired from being a parish minister in the Episcopal Church, this looked like the perfect thing for me to do," Freeman said.
Freeman, a longtime Rotarian, said he learned of the ShelterBox program through his Rotary connections.
Freeman is part of a ShelterBox team made up of volunteers from the U.S., Great Britain and Australia.
Freeman says he's been told many of the refugees arrive with meager possessions and are living and sleeping on the ground out in the open.
"This is a somewhat volatile situation that could quickly become very dangerous, he added. "However, it will be an excellent opportunity to work with and learn from representatives of some of the most experienced aid agencies in the world as Rotarians provide life-saving aid to families on behalf of those who make this aid possible through their donations."
The five-person ShelterBox team will bring an initial input of 400 boxes and coordinate their placement with the assistance of representatives other relief organizations. Each box of supplies is valued at $1,000 and contains shelter, bedding, water purification, cooking aids and utensils, practical toolkit and childrenâ
http://accesswdun.com/article/2008/11/214994