Shelter Box & North Korea
An exceptional glimpse of life inside one of the world's most isolated regimes - North Korea - has been provided thanks to a disaster relief charity set up by a UK Rotary club.
ShelterBox specialises in providing emergency accommodation and other survival essentials to disaster victims. Aid is delivered in pre-packaged kits - 'ShelterBoxes' - each designed to help a family of 10 survive for at least six months.
The charity has just delivered 200 boxes containing tents and other equipment to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), after being asked by the country's government to help families left homeless by recent floods.
ShelterBox photographer Mark Pearson travelled with some of the boxes to Jigokri, a small village in the province of Kangwon - no more than 25 miles from the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) that divides the North and South Korea. The area is extremely sensitive and very few visitors to North Korea are allowed beyond the capital Pyongyang, let alone within such a short distance of the DMZ.
Mark Pearson said: "We delivered the first 35 boxes to Jigokri. They'd had over 700mm of rainfall in less than 24 hours and a dam overflowed, washing away around 75 houses. Getting the boxes there was a challenge as there were very few trucks available and fuel is very hard to come by."
ShelterBox founder and chief executive Tom Henderson said: "First Steps has been working in North Korea for several years to combat malnutrition in young children. The charity was founded by Susan Ritchie, a former translator for the Canadian government and has built up a good working relationship with the North Korean authorities there.
ShelterBox was set up by a Cornish Rotary club in 2000 and now has international affiliates established by Rotary clubs in six other countries. In August, HRH The Duchess of Cornwall became the charity's president.
As well as working in North Korea, teams from ShelterBox are currently delivering aid in Peru, Somaliland and Uganda. For more information about the charity's work call Dick Drew PDG 604-467-1590 or visit www.shelterbox.org