System Structure

Bottom-Up,Top-Down,Community Formation,System-Organization, Self-organization of communal structures

Emergency shelter #10k

Image: Stewart Gray

 

Average family size:5 people.

Whilst the amount of families increases, services and functions are added to the shelter camp structure. Even if a shelter camp is meant to be used for a finite period of time, measured in weeks or months, functions and services are there to facilitate the process towards the return of normalcy and a further re-construction plan)  for the camp dwellers.

Units consisting of family tents form larger components and each component adds new shared elements into the camp. The modular structure of the emergency shelter camp means that instead of the whole structure one can choose to deploy a “village” or an “area” only. The idea is to use the people’s energy to create “Synergy”

System-structure of a 10k emergency camp

One tent

• 1 family
• 5 people
• Accessories for accommodation, food preparation, hygiene, and clothing for one family

One block

• 4 families
• 20 people
• Latrines and shared clean water storage

One neighbourhood

• 10 blocks
• 200 people
• Garbage disposal, communal kitchen, communal space, water point and children’s playground

One village

• 5 neighbourhoods
• 1,000 people
• School, shared laundry place and space for sports activities. Fuel distribution in a cold climate location.

One area

• 5 villages
• 5,000 people
• Water purification unit. Relief item distribution point

10k camp

• 2 areas
• 10,000 people
• 2,000 family tents
• Basic health clinic, market square, cemetery

This project is a disaster response tool (a system) aimed at providing temporary shelter to people who have lost their homes. The capacity of the camp is 10,000 to 13,000 people depending on how many people on average live in one family tent.

In addition to family tents, the structure of the camp also includes the necessary infrastructure to sustain the life of a temporary human dwelling of this size. The everyday function of the camp is very much based on the active participation of its inhabitants as well as the cooperation of the permanent local population of the area, public authorities and other humanitarian actors.

Staffing of emergency shelter camp

• 1 Team Leader
• 2 Administration delegates
• 1 Information delegate
• 10-15 Technical delegates (specialities: water and sanitation, IT, logistics, electricity, procurement, relief distribution plus generalists )
• 1 General practitioner
• 3 Nurses (of which one is a midwife)

In addition, emergency shelter camp hires, depending on circumstances, local staff such as teachers, warehouse staff, interpreters, nurses, electricians etc. Several hundred local staff is needed as well as the cooperation of camp dwellers.