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UPDATE: The container is enroute to Sierra Leone and is expected to arrive in Freetown, a port and the capital city, in early November 2023.
August 2023 has been a busy month for our Club members; Friends of the Club and Volunteers from far and wide.
Starting with Saturday 5th Aug – our first day packing our Container of Hospital Equipment bound for the Tombo (Tumbu) Community in Sierra Leone, West Africa.
Around two dozen people descended on the Rotary Australia Repurposing Equipment (RARE Central) / Donations in Kind (DIK) warehouse at Edinburgh, near the RAAF Base. RARE is an arm of Rotary Australia World Community Service (RAWCS) whose mission is to encourage and foster the advancement of international goodwill, peace and understanding through meaningful world community service projects.
From 9.30am through to 3.30pm, the group split up into teams who: managed stock control; retrieved items from the warehouse; cleaned and prepared items ready for loading; loaded; and handled the all important BBQ catering!
By end of day, the container was about 60% full and muscles were sore … so on the following Saturday 12th August and then Tuesday 15th, smaller teams convened to continue the charge.
At 1pm on the 15th, the doors were locked with the container filled to absolute capacity. Just about every square inch had something wiggled into it.
Our Best Estimate of the Value of Equipment loaded is $AU600,000 including:-
Hospital Equipment
• 30 Hospital Beds with Mattresses • Cubicle Screening Curtains • Bedside Chairs • Bedside Lockers • Bedside Tables • Over Bed Portable Tables • Bath Chairs • Scale Chair • Shower Chairs • 2 Operating Tables • Examination Tables • 3 Autoclave Sterilising machines • Pharmaceutical / Vaccine Refrigerator • Bed Pans • Blood Pressure Monitors • ECG Machine • Defibrillator • Electrotherapy Machine • X-Ray Light Boxes • Vital Signs monitors • Volumetric Pumps • Gurneys • Nurse / Doctor Trolleys with Drawers • Dental Chair • IV Drip Stands • Cribs • Patient Lifters • Sling Lifters • 3 Patient Walkers with Seats • 18 Walking Frames • 10 x Wheelchairs
Medical Supplies
• N95 Masks and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) • 300+ Sheets; Pillow Cases; Bath Mats and other linen • In excess of 500 Quilts • 100+ Scrubs / Gowns • 50 Face Shields • Antiseptic Solution • Body Bags • Electrodes • 2,000+ Incontinence Pads • Moon Boots • Sharps Containers • Glasses / Spectacles • 600+ Syringes • Wound Dressings
Support Supplies
• Clothing for Men, Women and Children • Books and Games • 3 Desktop Computers with Monitors • Pedestal Fans • Filing Cabinets • Laundry Hampers • 5 Mini Refrigerators • 3 Wall Paintings / Artworks • Water Barrels
Next Stop: Sierra Leone
Container is to be collected from Edinburgh on Tuesday 22nd August. By the 28th it will have been loaded on a ship, which about 60 Days later will dock in Freetown, Sierrra Leone. There the container will be unloaded to continue its journey by road to Tombo / Tombu / Tumbu.
Special Thanks
So many people, businesses and groups supported our project. A few to mention in particular:-
• The entire RAWCS RARE-Central / DIK team!
• Nick Femia & SA Mushrooms for purchasing and donating our 40ft Container.
• Government of South Australia & SA Health for a wide range of donated equipment and medical supplies.
• Steve McLachlan (Gawler Light Rotary) for professionally painting our container inside and out at no charge!
• Rotaract Club of Adelaide Peace members and MeetUp volunteers who cheerfully answered the call to join our team of packers.
• Youth Inc. for their ongoing support of the entire hospital project, but also for helping to load the container and bringing along some beautiful paintings to add some colour and cheer to the hospital walls!
• Andrew Beresh @ Future Cargo - for his patience, coaching and efforts to find a Ship at a great price for us to safely transport our container to West Africa.
• Rotary Club of Mount Barker for offering one of their Recycled and Rejuvenated Playgrounds. So sorry we ran out of space in this container ... BUT ... now we're looking at Number 2! :-)
Donations Very Much Appreciated
We are so very close to raising all of the Cash we need to complete the final stage of this project ... shipping our loaded container to the Port of Freetown, in Sierra Leone, West Africa.
If you are able to help with a donation, you will make a BIG difference. Donations over $2 are Tax Deductible. Our sincere thank you for any assistance you can provide!
< click here > to access our Donation Form.
PP Bill and President Eileen show off the Rotary branding that was added after the container had been repainted.
Adelaide Central Club Rotarian Tianbo Zhang (right) worked every muscle in his body loading the container with 30 Hospital Beds. As you can see, he, Ibrahim's brothers Gassim and Michael Barrie and President Eileen Fagioli's son David (back) filled the container from sided to side, up to the roof!
Adelaide Central Rotarian Glenda Sherwin-Lane oversaw the loading day, working with DIK Warehouse team member Fred on the Forklift. A huge thanks to Fred for his skill, passion and time dedicated to our Club project.
Volunteers helped us from the Rotaract Club of Adelaide Peace and our following from MEET-UP. Thanks ladies for your efforts cataloguing; planning and preparing load materials!
We were very fortunate to have 'professional container loader' David Fagioli (front) volunteering to help guide the load and for all of his muscles!
Adelaide Central Rotarian Ibrahim Barrie is assisted by community volunteer Alice to get the next bed ready for loading, with Richard Chong helping the procession.
This is what our 40ft Shipping Container looked like before our mate Steve got his paint brushes out. Then look at the next photo to see the AFTER. WOW !! OnYa Steve
Gawler East Rotarian, Steve McLachlan, is a professional painter who donated his considerable skills to painting the container inside and out. We're so grateful.
A production line of volunteers sourced materials from the DIK warehouse; sorted; catalogued; cleaned and prepared goods, ready for the loading team.
Foreground (l-r) Rotaract Club of Adelaide Peace volunteer 'Dee' helped Rotary Adelaide Central member Cathy Chong and husband Richard getting equipment together, including this Defibrillator machine.
Rotary Adelaide Central President Eileen Fagioli wraps fragile XRay Light Boxes in a Quilt ready for loading.
DIK Warehouse Manager, Rotarian David Cockshell has been of immense support to our Club, helping our project along and actively participating in the load of our container. Thanks Mate!
Nurse and Doctors patient notes trolley next to go in, supervised by Rotary Adelaide Central members Michelle Tink (front right) and Ibrahim Barrie (back right). A special mention to Gareth and Nia (left) for their amazing contributions!
One of the Baby Cots / Cribs is prepared and stacked with other fragile equipment.
Rotary Adelaide Central member Tianbo Zhang on the pallet jack positioning a Dentist Chair for loading.
Rotary Adelaide Central member Arthur Wait unwraps another pallet of medical supply stocks ready for loading.
It's like a Tetris puzzle loading a container. As you can tell, Ibrahim became rather adept at finding another hole to fit something in!
That's how to fill a container. Wall to Wall. Floor to ceiling. Just enough room to shut the doors!
Shipping Project Manager Rotarian Glenda Sherwin-Lane and Salmana Heart Foundation Hospital Founder Rotarian Ibrahim Barrie have good reason to smile. The container is FULL. Couldn't fit in so much as a squashed butterfly if we wanted to.
Just to give you an idea of the size and scale of the RARE Central Region / DIK Warehouse, this photo shows about one third of the stock that has been donated to Rotary, to help us support local and communities around the world ... AFTER we had loaded our stock into our container!