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November 2010……. Is it really only 4 weeks since we got back again? ………
Before I 'wax lyrical', and set about regaling tales of our trials and tribulations, as well as the passions and frustrations, I/we really need to thank you, everyone here at home in the UK …….. those of you who are reading this now, who so tirelessly, and with such determination and compassion, provide us with so many wonderful, and frankly often priceless donations of assorted aid that we give away with your love, to complete strangers; people who more often than not, are living in another world, indeed on another planet!...........
Food and clothes, shoes and toiletries, walking frames and wheelchairs, spectacles and tools……….and the things that you make so lovingly, knitted blankets made up from squares, knitted clowns, used butter dishes filled with toiletries, shoe boxes filled with goodies, exercise books made from recycled paper, and ladies handbags filled with treasures……….I can't think of a better way to express just how much pleasure all these small but such important gifts bring to the people who we try to help, than to share a poem with you, written after a trip by one of our convoyers, Claire Stevens…….it goes like this……
Who Was It?
Who parted with that purple bag? who thought it fit for aid?
The one that clearly cost a fortune, and polished to a fade.
I saw it opened by frail hands, eyes dancing at the gleam.
It could have been the perfume, or it may have been the cream.
For what I saw upon her face, the joy, no money one could pay.
To see the lipstick colour, oh, to feel it on display.
I saw this lady daub her lips, the bag fiercely guarded.
I wish you could have seen her smile, your effort so rewarded!
Whoever gave that purple bag, you made it all so worth it!
Whoever you are, and whatever you have given, it really does make a difference………!
It seemed that no sooner were we back home from Montenegro at the end of July, than we were getting on with the October Kosovo preparations; this time it was to be to the northern segment again, centred on Mitrovica. Six x 7.5 ton trucks, plus 'Nibsy's' 18 tonner, and the two 40 ton 'big rigs'. The team eventually numbered 27 people, including Katie flying direct from Geneva!
There are always huge challenges; again this convoy was no exception. One of them was the now familiar last minute change of hire vehicle, that Alan experienced this time with less than a week to departure…….with the usual changes that are then required to the mountains of border papers, with notifications, apologies, and grovelling to all and sundry, to override previous information! Deep joy!
I wasn't the only one to be faced with last minute challenges of course - Katie, who was organising all the flights for everyone back here in the UK, (from Geneva - don't ask - long story) lost her mobile phone with all of her contact numbers, but through the sort of luck that eludes us normal folk, it was returned to her a day before departure by someone honest who had found it!
We had the usual challenge of getting volunteer HGV drivers; we've always managed to get two for each vehicle until now, but a combination of factors meant that we either went with the trucks single-manned, or we'd have to leave one behind. Dave and Roddy both felt, as most professional drivers would agree, that single-manning wasn't a problem, and with Bill's agreement (he was leading this first wave) they decided to give it a go. It worked, in fact to the extent that both Dave and Roddy felt it was less tiring, but I'm still trying to work that one out!
The other major challenge, again, wasn't new, (but is seemingly getting to be more of a problem), and that's the sourcing of BULK goods, in other words goods donated by companies for whatever reason, in pallet size quantities. The recession has caused companies to rethink surplus disposals, and in many cases to recycle what they might previously have given to charities, but the associated phenomenon is the increase in corporate outsourcing of surpluses, to one or more 'chosen organisations' who offer huge UK storage facilities, with the understanding that they will in turn pass the goods onto other charities for the latter's use…….The worrying trend is the extent to which these goods, once given free to us directly on the very strict understanding that they could not be sold and must be given away abroad, now seem to end up attracting 'handling charges', sometimes of very significant proportions when passed on through these chosen 'not for profit' organisations. Whilst I can understand that costs have to be covered, it's a good job that we, as a humanitarian charity, don't pass on our costs in the form of 'handling charges' to our recipients..........The end result of course is that we now need to work even harder to raise not just the money that we need to transport the goods out there ourselves, but also the extra money to help cover the costs of these other organisations that they recoup through their 'handling charges'!........who was it that said charity begins at home?
In an effort to get another step ahead of the 'balderdash', on this occasion I had sent all our Manifests (load lists) and other border papers, by email, to the Spedition company in Serbia, before leaving the UK. The new Konzul (Consul) at the Embassy in London (only here in the UK for two weeks prior) had even worked at the weekend to get the papers and her supporting request completed, and sent to Belgrade in time to be processed before our arrival. She was as horrified as I was when I received an email from the Spedition Office to say that our food would once again have to be taken 100 miles in Serbia to a laboratory for testing! I have to say that it was induction by fire, but I was very impressed that the Consul immediately went into action to overcome this nonsense, and greatly relieved to hear that as long as we presented all the correct paperwork, further testing would not be required!
So……departure day arrived, and we all met at the Maidstone Services as usual. Dawn and Denise didn't know it yet, but having arrived so early from their journey which started in Devon, they ended up with a £50 (increasing to £80) parking fine for staying for over two hours! (I've subsequently managed to get the fine dropped, and re-implement an arrangement that was already in place, but had not quite worked. Off to Dover….. Or at least we started to make our way along the Motorway….. but one of the trucks (which shall remain nameless) announced 'Grumpily' ….that they couldn't find the pack of border papers they'd just been given, and thought they'd possibly left it on the tarmac in the Services!........ phone calls to the radio guys who were still there, and ………..guess what, they hadn't left it there, but instead they were sitting on top of them, 'panic stations averted'!…….on to Dover Customs with the newly combined Export Document that I'd been advised to use, only to be told that this would now cause them problems, and it might cause us delays………….but again, it got sorted, and we were off to the Eastern Docks, and away……!
The journey through France, Belgium and into Germany was going quite smoothly until, right on cue, the almost predictable telephone call came through from the Serbian border!.......the food we were carrying………did not need to be tested, BUT, our insurance cover on the vehicles was 'invalid' and the trucks were not being allowed to continue without buying new insurance!........what!!.....it's the same as it has always been…. "yes, but this year Serbia changed the letters that it uses on International Green Cards from SCG, to SRB……..and ours had been printed on old stationary"! But this wasn't our mistake, and these letters were used for years like this, and they must know that?.........sounds like more balderdash to me!........After nearly 4 hours of phone calls while Bev was driving and I was losing more hair, (Editors note - actually it was nothing at all to do with Bev's driving) the Consul in London was able to confirm that agreement had been given in Belgrade to allow the 3 trucks that were at the border to continue, but that if any other trucks arrived with the wrong stationery, they would not be allowed to proceed! ………….. That gave us major challenges but suffice to say, thank goodness for mobile communications technology, email, mountains of help and goodwill, Jeff Gill, and the 24 hours that we needed before we arrived at the border!!!
As usual someone ran a 'book' on how quickly we'd negotiate the border crossing, and I think 'Frantic' was being announced as the winners, just as another call came through to say that one of the big rigs, 'Mr Flibble' had refused to start earlier in the morning, and after four hours bleeding air from the pipes, they really didn't know what to do?........They hadn't managed to get hold of SITA back in the UK, so that became my next priority. As usual the response was brilliant, and any local costs incurred would be covered! As the breakdown had occurred in the middle of Belgrade but outside the overnight stopover hotel, it wasn't long before they managed to get a local mechanic on the scene, and despite not knowing quite what he did other than repeating what Bill had done, 'Mr Flibble' was off and running again………[clearly there is a major air problem that we are now seeking to resolve, along with a few other mechanical and electrical faults].
Well eventually, as always, we arrived in Kosovo, where, as our DVD always announces, the real work began. The Big Rigs and airborne crews had arrived 24 hours before us, and the warehouse in Skenderaj had been slightly reorganised to create good usable space. The owner of the warehouse was really superb, nothing was too much trouble, and we had the additional help of a lovely chap called Mentor, who spoke nearly perfect English, as well as of course Albanian, to act as our warehouse translator. As the days went on, he and Roddy became good friends. We learned that Mentor - who was in a wheelchair - had been paralysed when he jumped off a bridge during the war to get away from gunfire! We shared the space with the warehouse owners business going on around us. There were 2ft gulleys right across the warehouse, as well as sharp and protruding steel girders at truck roof height, all of which required very careful negotiation when bringing the vehicles in and out. Dave Smith undertook his now familiar 'shunter' role expertly, manoeuvring steel plates from side to side under each wheel before lining up each truck to cross the ravines, and then shunting us into place. For the six days we were there, there were no mishaps, Roddy organised the warehouse with customary aplomb, and everyone worked their socks off to unload, sort and reload for each day's drops!
The 'school-in-a-box' project managed by Bill and Norman, and the Wickford crew, was well underway when we arrived, having been out already to distribute that day - during the 6 days, they took all manner of stationery and some absolutely fabulous text books and other things to 13 schools that served 3000 students. [This project has now reached 73 schools, and provided exercise books and all the necessary stationery and teaching aids that we all take for granted, to 30,000 children].
Graham and Dave LR took over the Distribution Manager's role this time, and made a complete hash of it! …………sorry, I jest! Actually no they didn't, it was quite the opposite. Graham thought they were going to, but they surprised themselves and did it brilliantly. Juggling requests to be allowed to go on this drop or that, with the need to have someone undertaking the far less glamorous but nonetheless essential warehouse duties, is no easy task, but with the help of a laptop computer, and endless patience, the results were self evident.
CONTINUED HERE >>>>
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