The threat of rain, and an early spring touch of cold, hung in the air as the tractor and 40-foot shipping container moved into position to receive the shipment for Malawi. The volunteers, those who would load the trailer, and those who had packed and prepared the pallets of goods, moved closer to the action as the truck was positioned above the slight incline at the warehouse. It would make loading the 1,200-to-1,700-pound pallets easier as the loading team moved to fill every tiny space with just the right size box.
- Medical supplies and equipment, check!
- Textbooks for Malawi schools, check!
- Bookshelves for church and school libraries, check!
- Drip Irrigation kits, check!
As for those who had spent hours over the past weeks it was a moment to savor, as thousands upon thousands of dollars in needed goods were about to begin the last leg of their journey from possible destruction in a landfill, to a new life in one of the poorest places on earth.
This would be container # 361 in the past 370 months. That averages nearly one 40-foot-shipping container every month for the entire time the team from the Malawi Project has been working in-country. It is a record that members of the Project are proud to have reached, but one they wish to soon break with increases in the amount of supplies they can send to this, one of the poorest nations on earth. Malawians will soon be thanking God for making all this possible as they enjoy the results of Western efforts to help lift them out of poverty.
Two hours later, the driver closed the giant steel doors and attached the seal that would not be broken until it reached the Action for Progress distribution hub in Lilongwe. In the air there was still a threat of rain, and an early spring touch of cold.
Photo thanks to Jim Langdon of Lafayette, Indiana.