At the moment we use four large domestic washing machines and two large domestic tumble dryers to do all the laundry for up to 40 patients in Blessed Gérard's Hospice and the 41 children in Blessed Gérard's Children's Home. The machines run continuously from 7am to 7pm, 7 days a week to cope with the huge demand that a home full of terminally ill patients and children has. The machines need constant repairs because they are not made for continuous use with overloaded machines.
Therefore, the offer of the Lions international in Teunz / Germany seemed to us like a bucket of water for someone dying of thirst: A real and true relief and great help.
The gift of the machines, which together weigh more than a ton (1088 kg) but are stored in Bavaria, is one thing, but to transport such a huge load to Zululand in South Africa is another thing. The Lions Relief Society delivered the machines to Nuremberg. There it was Cargolux Airlines International S.A. from Luxembourg who helped us again, but this time in such an overwhelming way: The Lions Relief Society had brought the planes to Nuremberg on 30 October 2009. Cargolux transported them from Nuremberg to Luxembourg and flew the cargo from there to Johannesburg completely free of charge.
There, Global Aviation Management Services took over, got the shipment through customs and delivered them to our house against appropriate payment.
On 3 December 2009, the machines finally arrived at Blessed Gérard's Care Centre. But how are we going to get such a heavy load off the truck? The next angel to come to our rescue was SAPPI Kraft (Pty) Ltd Tugela Mill, who sent a forklift truck to Blessed Gérard's Care Centre and lifted the machines off the truck.
Now we are left with the task of expanding our laundry to make room for the huge machines that currently don't even fit through the door. We are confident that the conversion work can be done at the beginning of 2010 and the machines can then be put into operation soon.
We would like to thank with all our hearts:
Mr. Johann Klug (1st President) and the Lions-Hilfswerk Oberpfälzer Wald e.V. www.lions-oberpfaelzer-wald.de
Mr. Robert van de Weg (Senior Vice President Sales & Marketing), Mrs. Renate Bechthold (Manager Press & Promotions Europe, Middle East & Africa), Mrs. Bernadette Mutsch (Resalux), Mr. Stuart Gow (Country Manager), Mr. Gerold Mahl (who had forwarded our enquiry to the responsible offices) and Mr.. Guntram Kurz (Manager Sales & Reservation of Cargolux Munich) of Cargolux Airlines International S.A. www.cargolux.com
Mr. Daniel Kiesl ffrom Klug GmbH integrierte Systeme www.klug-is.de , who helped us to get the necessary documents for the duty-free import.
Mr Frederik du Plessis and Mr Hein McMahon from Global Aviation Management Services www.gamsflycargo.co.za
Mr Louis Kruyshaar (General Manager), Mr Rob Heppell, Mr Hayden Claassen and Mr Duncan Edwards from SAPPI Kraft Tugela Mill www.sappi.com