Sending the Container to Zambia

The Container

In midsummer each year we begin discussions with Brunel Shipping and Liner Co regarding dates and prices for a container. We have worked with this company on every container we have sent and we greatly value their assistance and patience with us. By now we’ve estimated the volume of goods and know whether we need a 20ft or 40ft container holding 32 cubic metres or 64 cubic metres accordingly. 

To help you imagine these they are approximately 8ft high and 8ft wide. We ship in the summer because we need light evenings to load up. Hopefully the arrival of the container at the storage site coincides with the arrival of our volunteer loaders. We aim to fully load in not more than 4 hours. The container stays on the back of the lorry so all items have to be hand lifted four feet off the ground. Good packing is critical. All available space must be utilised and delicate items need to be protected from damage en route. Over the years we’ve got more proficient in this and we reached our peak with the 2010 container – there was scarcely room for a cigarette paper when we waved it off! At this stage we lose all control of the things we’ve so carefully collected, stored, packed and loaded. We can only sit and wait.

The journey to Zambia

The container is sealed and it drives off into the night leaving behind it a group or exhausted people. First stop is the port of Bristol. Here the container is loaded onto a boat to Rotterdam, then to the Gulf States, and finally it reaches land in Durban, South Africa. This part of the journey is pain free and takes about four weeks. Zambia has no coastline and is about 1000 miles from the sea and the journey from Durban to Monze is by road, passing through both South Africa and Zimbabwe, finally crossing into Zambia at Livingstone (home of the famous Victoria Falls) and then on to our compound at Monze where it can be unloaded. This is the most frustrating part of the trip. It can be held up for many days at Durban whilst customs checks are made and answers sought from us. These can be absolutely bizarre like “what is the composition of the wheelchairs?”; “what is the fibre composition and size of the bedding items?”. We must respond quickly to these requests or the container is held up and we are charged dock storage fees .Once released we are then in the hands of our clearing agent in Zambia to arrange transport and facilitate border clearance This can add anything from 4 weeks to 10 weeks to the journey time!

Unpacking at Monze

The arrival of the container in Monze is always a looked forward to and is a hectic event. The items have to be unloaded, checked against the packing list we have provided, and stored safely in the compound. Any special items (eg those for Monze Mission Hospital) may be loaded immediately on to a truck and taken away. For the staff in UK the news of the safe arrival is met with a huge gasp of relief – our efforts have borne fruit.

Distributing the items

Distribution of the items is undertaken in a highly controlled way by the staff in Monze. Potential recipients are assessed for their needs and must meet the criteria laid down. There is often an existing waiting list of people and community groups needing wheelchairs, crutches and the many other invaluable items we send. Many are earmarked for specific destinations before they ever leave the UK. We are provided with a regular feedback on when, where, and to whom items have been donated and this makes us realise that our work has been worthwhile.

The cost is high; the 2010 container cost in excess of £9000 but the contents (mainly destined for landfill in the UK) are invaluable and change lives in Zambia.

• You’ve carried your invalid child on you back since he was born - you now have a buggy or wheelchair
• Your friends have pushed you around town in a wheelbarrow - you now have a wheelchair
• You used to freeze at night - you now have a blanket
• Your eyesight or hearing was failing - you now have spectacles or a hearing aid
• You've been given sewing lessons - and a machine to make you self sufficient

That’s what makes it worthwhile.