North volunteer tells of Haiti devastation

Feb 21 2010 by Coreena Ford, Sunday Sun

A CHARITY volunteer from the North who jetted to Haiti on a mercy mission has told how he has given temporary shelters to thousands of quake victims.

Garry McCaffery, of Richmond, North Yorkshire, was one of the first volunteers with relief charity ShelterBox to arrive in Port au Prince, after the catastrophe that killed more than 200,000 people and caused billions of pounds in damage.

The 37-year-old – a firefighter with North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service – spent two weeks in the ravaged country, delivering emergency shelter to survivors of the January earthquake.

Garry jetted to the scene with fellow ShelterBox Response Team member Jane Nash, and was based at the UN compound at Port au Prince Airport, where he was camped near the end of the runway.

He said: “I knew that many Haitians suffered abject poverty before the earthquake hit.

“But when I saw the destruction that all but paralysed the country, it made me realise it would not take a few months to clear up, but would affect Haiti for a generation.”

ShelterBox, based in Cornwall, distributes emergency humanitarian aid after natural and manmade disasters anywhere in the world.

Each ShelterBox kit contains a 10-person disaster relief tent, water storage and purification equipment, blankets, mosquito nets, a stove, cooking utensils, basic tools, a children’s activity pack and other vital items.