16th January 2020
Our third and latest consignment bound for Yemen left the Aquabox depot this morning. The shipment comprised 250 Gold Boxes, 5 Community Filters and 120 Family Filters.
This image may not appear that stimulating. It is, after all, a half full container with some blue boxes stacked at one end. A cursory glance may not promote much interest, but when their contents are considered the image becomes much more intriguing.
The boxes are Aquaboxes and are destined for war torn Yemen. Latest estimates suggest 3.3 million people are now displaced and every 10 minutes a child dies there. Many of the deaths are due to preventable diseases, in particular, cholera. This water-borne disease is spread because of poor sanitation and contamination of drinking water.
So how does Aquabox help?
Each blue box contains a water filter. This removes cholera and many other waterborne diseases from contaminated water supplies. In fact just one filter can provide safe drinking water for a family of 5 or 6 over many months, and years, if needed, and in addition to the filter, each box is filled with other aid items selected to help families rebuild their lives.
Altogether, the Aquabox filters in this container can supply safe drinking water for nearly 2500 people like the Yemeni children below.
The container is not shipped half full though. The remaining space is filled with medical items such as wheelchairs, prosthetic limbs and crutches. These are provided by one of our partner charities, JOY (Jubilee Outreach Yorkshire).
This is the third such container we have shipped out to Yemen, a very difficult destination, but with extremely rewarding results. Many thanks to our team of volunteers for all their help in getting this shipment ready and for their assistance with loading the container.
A very big thank you of course goes to all our supporters who have helped make this aid possible.