Michigan City, Indiana … For the team on the production line, they are almost a blur of fast-moving bottles coming toward them.
For the warehouse crew, they are cases and cases stacked neatly on pallets to be loaded on an outgoing trailer.
For the shipper they are SCS-2759, and there are over 50,000 of them. In this one shipping container.
For the overseas transporter, they are known as NAM-3943231 and comprise only a tiny blip on a very large container ship.
For the customs people at the border, they are something to be checked off on the incoming manifest.
For the team at Action for Progress, they are a large group of supplies critically needed, especially in the hospitals.
But for the people who open the caps of the 56,700 bottles, they have the potential to save their lives.
What is this shipment and what is its importance? It is hand sanitizer that left Michigan City, Indiana early in the year and is now being distributed all over Malawi to help people maintain good health and keep problems, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, away.
Distribution is taking place from the largest hospitals in the country all the way to village churches and other community organizations.
(This was one of 8 shipments of supplies for Malawi during 2021. These shipments are made possible through supply contributions from manufacturers and the donation of shipping expenses by our supporters. Pictured are a group of village people who received hand sanitizer to protect their families from disease).