Lilongwe, Malawi … Two 40-foot shipping containers are approaching their destination in Malawi and are expected to arrive in the next few days. Both are expected to reach the new Action for Progress warehouse west of Lilongwe shortly before it’s completion. While this will create some storage and logistical problems, pre-planning already has been taken into consideration. One of the containers, (pictured in this story being loaded in Demotte, Indiana) filled with mobility units, medical gloves, hand tools, and clothes, has been purchased and will be placed permanently on site next to the distribution center.
The second trailer, though it will need to be returned to the shipper, is filled with food for famine and flood victims, thanks to World Emergency Relief and Universal Aide. While this trailer will need to be immediately offloaded there is already one container permanently on site that can hold food for the short time. Because of the food shortage from the catastrophic cyclone earlier in the year this food shipment will be moved out of storage quite quickly.
The ocean port through which these containers will begin their overland trip to Malawi is the port of Nacala, the deepest seaport in southern Africa. This port is located in Northern Mozambique, where shipping containers are being diverted due to the port of Beira being devastated from the recent cyclone that struck the east coast of Africa.
