The Container

From time to time International partners of the Synod send shipping containers of donated goods for use by various ministries within the Synod. The arrival of one of these containers is always a big event. One arrived from Australia this week and there was a great flurry of activity and excitement.

This particular container, 40 feet long, was shipped before Easter. We have been anticipating its arrival. But the process is always a bit complicated. Malawi is a land locked country so that sea containers arrive in ports in Mozambique usually, are offloaded to waiting trucks and then are hauled to Malawi. At the border, they are met by customs agents and Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) agents and escorted to the shipping terminal in Blantyre, where their accompanying paper are inspected and cleared. They are then hauled to their destination but cannot be opened until the MRA officials are present to inspect the contents, to be certain that they match what has been declared. It can take a week or more from the time the container arrives in Malawi until it is delivered to its destination. Once there, it cannot be opened until the MRA’s agents are present. We knew the container was in Blantyre. We were just waiting. It arrived on Monday morning about 9 a.m. Everyone gathered – the labors who would unload the container, the two Australians who are here in residences and had helped to load the container, members of the Partnership committee who are responsible for these international connections, the Synod staff from departments that were to receive contents, and those who were just curious to see what was going on. I was there as part of Partnership and as one whose department (Chigodi) was to receive some of the boxes. Everyone was there except the MRA folks. Our liaison from the Partnership called them. They were coming. When they hadn’t arrived by noon, we called again. They said they would be there after lunch, so we all took a lunch break, to gather back at 1:30 p.m.

My friends from the partnership were at a disadvantage because they had not planned for lunch, so I invited them to my house, along with the Australian couple and a friend of theirs. We were seven in all for a “potluck” lunch. It was great time of storytelling and culture sharing. We were back at the site at 1:30, but the MRA agents weren’t. We called again about 2:30 p.m. and they said they were coming. They arrived at 3, took one look at the container and said there was not enough time to unload it. They didn’t realize (for some reason) that it was a 40’ trailer. They were expecting a 20’ container and this would take too much time. They would come back on Tuesday at 8 a.m. So we all went home, more than a bit disappointed.



Beginning the unlaoding



Tuesday the MRA agents were as good as their word and were here at 8 a.m. along with the shipping agent, who is a CCAP member. The crowd of onlookers from the day before had grown, so there was a throng to witness the opening. John, from Australia, had the honor of sawing off the lock to open it, while the MRA agents sat in chairs that had been provided for them and watched the proceedings. There was a great cheer when the locks came off and the door was opened. The container was packed from floor to ceiling, front to back with boxes – small, medium, large, and irregular shaped, all hand packed and labeled by church members in Australia with great care. They contained medical supplies, sewing materials, books, used clothing, bolts of cloth, mechanics’ tools, filing cabinets. The list seemed as endless as the boxes did. A relay line was formed and the boxes were handed down from the trailer to men who shuffled them to various piles around the trailer, according to the labels – Synod, Zomba, Chigodi, Orbis Project, BSHDC, Mulanje Hospital, Education Department. The MRA agents just sat and watched. Finally they asked to examine one of the smaller boxes that was marked for Chigodi. I was called over to witness the opening. They opened a box marked “wool.” Inside were 20 skeins of yarn. The MRA agents closed the box and handed it back, without saying a word. They seemed disappointed. About 5 minutes later, they got up and left. The container was not even half unloaded. The shipping agent then came over and explained that the MRA agents waited Monday, hinting that they should receive payment to NOT come to the site. He told them he was not authorized by the church to make any payments. The church doesn’t function that way. Then they said they needed to be there since sometimes people try to sneak cars into the country in containers marked otherwise.  He assured them this was coming from honest people. Then they wanted to see the small box because they said that people sometimes ship money in boxes marked otherwise. They asserted that from their experience, people are dishonest. That is why everything was delayed. My Australian friends and I just shook our heads and continued to unload the container.



Moving Synod boxes to storage



The container was emptied in about 2 ½ hours, with 20 young “porters” shuttling boxes and creating large piles. But the job was not done. The piles had to be moved to secure locations. The Synod’s boxes were moved to two storerooms, making way for a large Synod truck to be moved into place to load the various other piles and transport them to their secure storage until they could be unpacked. Chigodi’s 208 boxes were the first to be moved. They came to my garage until they can be moved to Chigodi. This involved loading them on the large truck, driving them to my house and unloading them into the garage. This was a great deal of handling of each box, from container to pile to truck to garage. Some opened from the rough handling.  Maxwell was there to greet us and to supervise the unloading and storing in the garage. He and the Chigodi representative from accounting watched carefully to be certain that the young porters did not help themselves to any content that might ”fall” out of boxes that were now not as securely closed. I would never have thought of that. Both said that people are not always honest with goods like these. They need to be watched carefully. Maybe the MRA agents were right. The same process happened with the stacks for all the other locations. The Synod truck made four such trips that day. The last of the piles was loaded on a truck from Zomba about 4 in the afternoon headed back to Zomba. The goods had been received. Now the fun begins as we distribute the contents to those for whom they were so generously intended. The goodness of international friends is sometimes overwhelming and greatly appreciated.