Service in Action

By ShelterBox staff

On 8 September 2023, a 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck Morocco. More than 3,000 people were killed, and thousands more were injured.

After consulting ShelterBox’s initial emergency response evaluation criteria, ShelterBox sent an Emergency Response Team to assess the situation in person and determine whether, where, and how ShelterBox might implement a response project to meet the most unmet need.

Given the level of need, the welcome from Moroccan authorities of international support, and the support of local partners, ShelterBox decided to implement a response project in Morocco to provide temporary emergency shelter and essential aid for approximately 4,400 people. The response took place in remote villages in the Atlas Mountains, where more than 50,000 homes were reported to have been destroyed. Many people had been sleeping out in the open since losing their homes or because they feared buildings collapsing from aftershocks.

After conducting a community assessment, we determined that a household package including shelter, solar lights, thermal blankets for the high-altitude temperatures, and a kitchen set to prepare and cook food would be most effective in helping the community survive through the first months of emergency relief after the earthquake. Village communities helped with ShelterBox’s assessments to ascertain the level of need, understand if the community was receiving assistance from other agencies, and determine the level of vulnerability of the population. In addition, they worked hard to prepare the shelter sites and assisted with aid package distributions.

Vital collaboration from Rotary

ShelterBox’s and Rotary’s collaboration took many forms during the response project. Our communication with Rotary members commenced on the day of the earthquake. They helped to speed up the process of getting aid in-country by providing insight into the country’s import process and regulations and making crucial introductions to Moroccan contacts such as to our other partner, the Grand Atlas Foundation, and to translators, drivers, and accommodations.

Members of the Rotary Club of Majorelle in Marrakech packed aid items into bags to prepare them for distribution. When we realized the shelters needed rebar pegs because the mountain ground was hard, a Rotarian introduced us to a supplier who kindly donated the heavy-duty stakes we needed. Rotary members also helped find a multilingual person for a ShelterBox Feedback and Complaints role, an independent contract position that ShelterBox prioritizes for each response project to enable reporting of issues and requests from the community members to ensure we serve them well and continually improve our responses.

Approximately eight Rotary members assisted with some of the distributions, including completing volunteer tasks like putting up shelters and speaking with the local community to understand better their current needs and to involve them in the distribution process. The conversations also helped to inform Rotary’s other service projects. Each Rotary volunteer was briefed on ShelterBox’s people-centered distribution approach, which seeks to maintain individuals’ dignity by respecting their decisions.

Shared knowledge, lasting impact

Our partnership extended beyond logistics. We exchanged valuable information. Local Rotary clubs shared their initial reports from visits to earthquake-affected villages. Additionally, several clubs in the district had been implementing programs to support mountain communities before the earthquake, which meant they were able to provide important links and information about the necessary local permissions, municipal authorities, and cultural customs there. ShelterBox team members shared the findings from community needs assessments and community discussions with Rotary, including information about sanitation and hygiene, other specific community needs, and the community’s dynamics. Shared knowledge informed Rotary’s other service initiatives to the communities.

Ongoing support from Rotary

After completing the emergency response project in Morocco, like other immediate relief aid organizations, we left the country. However, Rotary clubs continue to support nearby communities in longer-term recovery and rebuilding. Rotary projects include providing food, clothing, and hygiene, along with supporting a mobile hospital project and planning a temporary housing project. The Rotary Club of Majorelle, for instance, distributed to 52 households 100 of the wooden pallets on which ShelterBox’s aid entered Morocco to use as bed and seating bases. The club donated and distributed mattresses, pillows, sheets, and rugs in addition to the pallets.

ShelterBox shared documents a safeguarding, consent for photographs and video, and a project’s Feedback and Complaints function with our counterparts from Rotary. Partially based on ShelterBox’s community assessment data, Rotary District 9010 is planning to apply for a global grant to address water, sanitation, and hygiene needs in the mountain villages.

Together, we were able to support 22 village communities and distribute more than 17,000 aid items before the sub-zero winter temperatures arrived in the Atlas Mountains. This collaboration exemplifies the power of international partnerships in disaster response.

We invite Rotary and Rotaract clubs around the world to share their disaster response experiences in the comments below. Let’s learn from each other and continue building resilient communities together.