One of the great pleasures of being CPT President is that you meet and discuss issues and topics with people you might not have had the opportunity to otherwise.
I met with Transaid CEO Caroline Barber and Head of Fundraising Florence Bearman to find out more about the charity. It has been operating in Africa for 30 years; 2018 marks its 20th anniversary as a stand-alone organisation.
Close links
It has always been closely linked to the transport sector: its initial raison d’etre being to organise transport for relief supplies from ports or airports to the communities that needed them. It then transitioned into a specialist training and logistics organisation, a role it ably fills today.
Key geographies include Tanzania, landlocked Zambia (which presents a number of unique logistical issues) and Nigeria.
Caroline and Florence explained some of the issues Transaid was trying to address: organising local communities to provide ‘bike taxis’ for pregnant women in isolated communities to get them to the medical facilities they needed at the most critical times; organising the supply of anti-malaria drugs to communities cut off by poor communications links and ‘train the trainer’ type courses to improve the standards of road safety particularly in the coach and bus sector.
Caroline and Florence were keen to express their gratitude for the support our coach sector has given to Transaid over the years, but clearly there’s always more that we can do.
That’s why I was keen to meet with them and publicise how we can give support that can genuinely make a huge difference to people’s lives: and in Africa in the transport and logistics sector the emphasis really is on ‘life:’ actions in our sector are really that stark.
What can we do?
I was struck by how many simple but practical things we can do to provide support.
For example if anybody is willing to donate a reasonable vehicle (i.e. a runner that will be a help rather than a burden), this would double the number of buses that are in Zambia for training purposes.
Paying for shipping costs would be an additional bonus. But if this is beyond your reach, giving time can be a major asset for what Transaid is trying to achieve.
For example providing engineers to service vehicles or driver trainers to train local staff in up-to-date techniques to pass on to others (as little as a week at a time would make a difference) or project managers to drive forward activities.
And, Caroline and Florence were keen to emphasise the great development opportunities for participating staff.
And you can be sure your efforts and funds raised won’t be wasted.
In the excellent traditions of the coach and bus industry Transaid is a very lean organisation.
It’s difficult to think of a better way to mark Responsible Business Week.
Find out more: www.transaid.org
