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Man helps shelter disaster victims

Felida's John Cordell has been to Tanzania, Malawi, may go to Haiti

By Tom Vogt, Columbian Science, Military & History Reporter
Published: January 29, 2010, 12:00am
2 Photos
ShelterBox volunteer John Cordell of Felida teamed with Kremet Matandaloa, Lyson Mwanza and Richard Vinkhumbo of Marion Medical Mission.
ShelterBox volunteer John Cordell of Felida teamed with Kremet Matandaloa, Lyson Mwanza and Richard Vinkhumbo of Marion Medical Mission. Photo Gallery

When thousands of lives were thrown into turmoil by two recent African disasters, John Cordell provided shelter by the boxful.

The Clark County man spent about two weeks in Africa earlier this month on behalf of ShelterBox, a disaster relief agency.

His team first was assigned to help victims of an earthquake in Malawi. Then Cordell and a teammate were assigned an additional mission after flooding left thousands of families homeless in Tanzania.

By the time Cordell returned from his assignment, the earthquake in Haiti had captured the attention of the world.

It costs about $1,000 to outfit a ShelterBox container; boxes often can be delivered to a disaster site within 48 hours. (www.shelterbox.org)

“Haiti is a game-changer,” Cordell said.

ShelterBox has delivered 2,000 emergency boxes to Haiti, with more on the way. United Nations officials say the things Haitian quake survivors need most include family-sized tents and stoves, so they can cook rice and beans instead of eating packaged meals.

That’s just what Cordell was distributing to African disaster victims — plus a lot more. Each box includes a tent that can shelter 10 people; blankets; a tool kit; water-purifying supplies and containers; cooking supplies; and a stove that can burn fuels ranging from diesel to alcohol to old paint.

The plastic boxes — 24 inches by 33 inches by 22 inches — can come in handy, too.

“People use the boxes for cradles, for bathing, for food storage,” Cordell said.

Worked with medical mission

It costs about $1,000 to outfit a ShelterBox container; boxes often can be delivered to a disaster site within 48 hours. (www.shelterbox.org)

ShelterBox partnered with Marion Medical Mission, a U.S.-based Christian relief organization that requested help. Cordell’s team distributed 200 boxes to people displaced by a series of December earthquakes.

“There had never been an earthquake in anybody’s memory,” Cordell said, so the Malawai villagers didn’t build anything with seismic standards in mind. “The houses were not well-made.”

Brick walls, roughly mortared together, shook to pieces. And even if buildings remained standing after the quake, “They probably would result in injuries in the future. People no longer trusted their shelters,” the Felida resident said. “People wanted to raise their families away from danger.”

After distributing the boxes in Malawi, Cordell and another Washington volunteer, Sequim’s Scott Robinson, were assigned to Tanzania. They distributed 200 more boxes to flood victims.

The 58-year-old retired Portland police detective also worked with ShelterBox last year in Sri Lanka, where 290,000 people were displaced by fighting.

ShelterBox doesn’t have the high profile of other relief agencies, but Cordell said he likes being part of a small, nimble organization.

“I can give the founder a call today,” he said.

Cordell said he wouldn’t be surprised to a get quick assignment to Haiti, or a return trip to Tanzania, where flood victims still need shelter and safe drinking water.

But wherever he’s sent, the assignment comes with a responsibility, Cordell said: “Part of giving a box to someone is saying no to someone else.”

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Columbian Science, Military & History Reporter