Returning to assess conditions in shelters 3 months after Koshi River disaster Nepal 2008.
We believe that every family displaced by a disaster should have the opportunity to build, or be provided with, the highest standard of shelter possible. It is the reason why, in developing the RSK shelter, we have always aimed to achieve the Sphere Guidelines for emergency shelter. This includes using the highest standard of relief tarpaulin and best quality of bamboo whenever possible. We take this aspiration further by always looking to improve the shelter by a continuous process of iteration.
Cultural sensitivity and empowering all members of the family to be able to prepare and build their own personal shelter are values we firmly believe in. Working at a grassroots level enables us to implement these values and assist vulnerable communities in using the RSK for shelter preparedness. In addition, by listening first hand to individual displaced families, we can continue to learn about their shelter needs during the first few traumatic days after a disaster.
Continuing to engage and work closely with the Shelter Sector has always been invaluable to the RSK Program. We believe that this is vital to maintain the high standards of professional monitoring and evaluation that will be required to eventually scale up this shelter.
