On Thursday 9th July a vehicle left Tonbridge, heading for Malawi. On board was a consignment of 79 cartons weighing a total of 1,498 kgs. The cartons contained many hundreds of items from computers to clothing, all intended for the people of Malawi whom we are committed to helping.

The vehicle was driven by Brian Wilkins, the project co-ordinator. He was accompanied by Anthony Halter, a parishioner who helped in transferring the load onto a large container. This would travel by land and sea via South Africa and Mozambique.

After a journey lasting eight weeks, the consignment arrived at Blantyre in Malawi, to be met by priests from our linked parishes. They and their helpers then transported the goods to the intended locations.

Thanks to the careful packing of our teams in Tonbridge, every item arrived undamaged.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~This enormous project was the idea of Brian Wilkins, one of our team members, who developed and processed the whole initiative over a period of three years. This is Brian’s description of events:

This is how events unfolded of what started as just a dream:

June 2006 I proposed the idea at our Malawi Team meeting, that we explore the possibility of sending goods to Malawi by Container.
July 2006 During July and August I carried out a feasibility study. The cost was just over eight thousand pounds and we would need to source 2400 cubic feet or 28000 kg of goods to fill a container. It was evident that this would be beyond our capabilities.
October 2006 I made enquiries of other charities who aid Malawi, with a view to sharing their container space and the costs involved.
January 2007 I located a group in Huddersfield, Yorkshire. CART (Christian Africa Relief Trust), periodically send containers to Africa.
February 2007 Discussions took place during February and March. CART agreed costs and space in their next container to Malawi. They were currently sending three a year.
April 2007 Final arrangements were being put in place with CART. The Malawi team discussed the details and considered an appeal to the parish.
May 2007 CART informed us of a change to the import regulations on goods into Malawi. All organisations in Malawi now needed to be registered with CONGOMA. (Malawi Revenue Department)
July 2007 Father Francis from Nsanje applied to CONGOMA for the necessary licence. To date this had not been processed.
May 2008 A friend informed me that the Anglican Diocese of Birmingham had just sent their first container to Malawi.
June 2008 I made contact with their co-ordinator, the Rev Richard Tucker in Sutton Coldfield. During the next two months discussions took place regarding our wish to share. Agreement was reached on our contribution to costs and allocation of space.
August 2008 I was informed that the next container was scheduled for November 2008. We were still awaiting the CONGOMA licence.
September 2008 I made regular checks with Father Francis as to the progress of their application to CONGOMA.

Apparently the Malawi revenue department only process three or four applications per week.

November 2008 I sought permission to share the Anglican diocese CONGOMA licence obtained by the Upper Shire Diocese, in Malawi.
January 2009 The date for the next container to be sent was set for 10th July 2009.
February 2009 Consent was obtained from the Anglican Diocese of the Upper Shire and agreed with the Malawi Customs Department.

The dream was now becoming a reality!

The first Appeal Newsletter was issued within the parish.

March 2009 Appeal letters were sent to local organisations and companies.
April 2009 A second appeal newsletter was issued within the parish
May 2009 The collection was started and items were sorted and stored.

The process was now well underway of cleansing computers. We upgraded hardware and configured new drivers. We loaded software of simple programs that are user friendly for beginners and these included many games for entertainment.

A team was formed of volunteers to carry out the sorting and packing of items received.

June 2009 The process of packing was started. Each carton needed to be tightly packed and made watertight, ready for the journey by sea. (3 packing sessions took place during June)
July 2009 The final two packing sessions took place. Customs declarations were completed for each carton and each was identified by code and number.
9th July 2009 The lorry was loaded from our Tonbridge warehouse, ready for transportation to Birmingham, the following day.
10th July 2009 We arrived in Birmingham and our cartons were transferred onto the rear of the container. Ours will be the first to be unloaded at Blantyre, Malawi.
August 2009 Carton declarations were sent to the Malawi customs office.

Inventories and identification of each of the cartons by code and number, were sent to each of the receiving priests.

9th September 2009 The container arrives at Blantyre, to await customs clearance.
16th September 2009 The container clears Customs and our priests are ready and waiting to collect the cartons coded for their parish. All arrived safely with no breakages.

Details of the consignment sent

79 large cartons – weighing 1498 kg – measuring a total of 208 cubic feet.

My sincere thanks go to all those people who have generously dedicated so much of their time and skill. Also for the help received from many local companies. Without this support this project would not have been possible.

This is the story so far of a Dream come true.

Watch this space for news of the next container.

Brian Wilkins.

Co-ordinator – Container Project

Acknowledgments from Brian

My grateful thanks go to the following people for dedicating their time and skills. Without their support the Malawi Container Project would not have been possible.

Rev Richard Tucker

Of the Anglican Diocese of Birmingham. Richard invited us to share in their third container (July 2009) to Malawi and obtained permission for Corpus Christi Parish to share the Upper Shire’s import licence (CONGOMA). Richard has also given me so much help and advice since June 2008. They hope to send their next container in 2010 and we hope take up a section of this.

Jan Beare and Judith Grubb

Were both co-ordinators of the Anglican container project based in Birmingham, Jan and Judith both supplied much information and advice with reference to packing and labelling, along with customs regulations and documentation.

Andrea Senior

Who came to my assistance in sourcing and collecting the many items that were required. Andrea obtained many of these items from outside the parish, either by telephone or searching the Internet.

Andrew Marchant

Who has my grateful thanks for supplying many of the desktop computers. Andrew lives in Maidstone and was unemployed at the time; he was a volunteer for the Maidstone re-cycling scheme. All the computers obtained were checked and tested, many came with audio systems. All the computers were cleansed then loaded with windows XP as the operating system. Andrew is a specialist sound engineer and thankfully is now back in full time employment.

Kevin Wilkins

He worked on the IT and computer part of the project from March until July. Kevin gave so generously of his time, donating many hundreds of hours. Some computers were taken apart and used as spare parts. These were used to upgrade many of the other computers with additional and higher grade hardware. He also added drivers for printers and scanners and ensured that all the computers were Internet ready with anti-virus protection. Kevin fully tested all the computers and all of the ancillary equipment. He also installed a variety of software programs, including games, that will be suitable for beginners.

Godric Horne

He acquired many of the laptop computers from his employers. Godric checked and tested each laptop, then wiped them clean ready for Kevin to load Windows XP and add other software programs.

Corpus Christi – Sorting and Packing Team

For the many hours they dedicated to sorting and carefully packing the cartons; this work as carried out in harsh conditions. Many cartons were cut up and re-shaped to cater for larger items and to ensure that they were filled to capacity. They were then lined with plastic bags to protect the contents whilst at sea. This was a job well done because everything arrived safely with no breakages or damage from the sea.

I am grateful for the help of: Andrea Senior, George and Joyce Boswell, John and Monica Boardman, Ken and Sue Marsh, Michael Guttman Kenny, Nuala Barton, Molly Mellish, Peter and Lily Wells and Anthony Halter.

Malawi Twinning Team and Parish

My thanks go to the team for their ongoing support and to the parishioners and friends of Corpus Christi Church, for all their generous donations, encouragement and support in this new venture.

Tyler Holdings Ltd

For donating the use of one of their warehouses for storage, sorting and packing of the cartons ready for onward shipment.

Codex UK Ltd

For their generous donation of the many packaging materials we needed.

St Ives Westerham Press Ltd

For supplying plain white paper, guillotining to A4 size, packing 2,500 sheets per carton, supplying over 15,000 sheets for the computer printers.

VR Digital Ltd

For allowing me pallet storage facilities, boxing of tee shirts, donating packaging materials, plain white paper cut to A4 size and some sets of art materials.

Steller UK Ltd.

For donating 3000 ex BUPA tee shirts, which served the dual purpose of protecting goods in transit and providing much needed clothing. (See photo trail)

S & S Distribution Ltd

For their generous donation of pallet storage space; and for palletised collection and distribution in the UK.

Tonbridge School

For donating sets of textbooks for secondary schools level, along with paints, brushes and many other arts related items and materials.

T and T Express Deliveries

Are my employers. They have allowed me the time to make and receive many telephone calls and e-mails, seek donations and contributions. They have also supplied transport to collect goods from many local companies and organizations, who have so generously contributed to this project. My employers have also allowed me the use of a vehicle to transport the cartons to Birmingham.

May I thank them enormously for all the support and encouragement they have given to me and the Malawi Container Project.

To anyone else not mentioned

I am grateful to everyone who has helped me to fulfil this dream. This was the culmination of three years of often frustrating effort. The end product is that very many poor people have benefited greatly from this venture, as the following photographs will show.

We look forward to 2010!