Lilongwe, Malawi … It is not unusual for the Malawi news media to send reporters and photographers to cover the distribution of supplies to Malawi schools and hospitals. With over 9 trailers, or their equivalent, in supplies reaching Malawi, since February 5, or on the way, and a distribution network of over 1,000 government schools and 600 government medical facilities the task of supplying a large portion of their needs is daunting and formidable.
Each time a container shipment approaches the African coast Wilson Tembo, the Executive Director for Action for Progress, meets with the customs and duty people to review if there is duty or customs due on the approaching shipment. With only minor exceptions, there are almost always no charges, or very few, and the Malawi Revenue Authority signals that the shipment can enter the country and go directly to the Action for Progress distribution center in Lilongwe. After all, the Malawi Project and Action for Progress are making possible a major influx of medical and educational supplies to the nation through its own medical and educational network.
After a recent shipment arrived, Tembo assured the Revenue Authority Office almost everything on the shipment would be quickly distributed to government schools and hospitals. In just a few days as Tembo and his team were distributing the supplies the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation covered the event with nationwide viewers of the events. That evening the phone at the Tembo house rang. When he answered he found he was talking to a Malawi Revenue Authority officer. She was calling to acknowledge she had seen the news and knew the supplies coming from America were going where they had been promised. “I watched the news last night and noted that you were giving those medical supplies to government hospitals. That is commendable. Continue the good job,” she encouraged at the end of the conversation.