Hope Walks with Blue Water

Earlier this year, Blue Water’s Aid & Development Logistics team was contacted by a customer regarding transport of a special shipment from Shanghai, China to the NGO Hope Walks in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The transport faced challenges due to container shortage in Shanghai and fully booked vessels as a consequence of Covid-19. However, Blue Water succeeded in finding a container as well as booking space on the required vessel – thus saving the transport.

The contact to the consignee in Ethiopia was established in advance, and the customs process initiated in due time ensuring that delivery of the container from Djbouti Port to Addis Ababa could take place upon vessel’s arrival.

”The medical supplies used for treatment of the clubfoot deformity was delivered on schedule and to the complete satisfaction of all parties involved – and Hope Walks could continue the important fight against the disease”, says Nicklas Christensen, Aid & Development Logistics, Blue Water Billund. The team was responsible for the important and extensive handling of the many documents and the booking itself.

National Clubfoot Program

Hope Walks is involved in the roll-out of the new ”National Clubfoot Program” in Ethiopia, implemented in 48 local, public hospitals which are now able to treat the disease.

Clubfoot is a birth defect that impacts close to 200,000 infants on an annual basis. Every year, more than 4000 infants are born with this congenital deformity in Ethiopia alone. In most cases the cause of the disease is unknown, and the lifelong handicap as well as the social and economic consequences impose a large burden on the person affected.

”Blue Water’s Aid & Development Logistics department is happy to contribute to the successful project – and not least to be able to provide timely delivery within the budget”, concludes Nicklas Christensen.

Facts

Hope Walks is a Christian non-profit organisation based in Dillsburg, Pennsylvania, USA, treating infant clubfoot in developing countries around the world. Hope Walks operates over 130 clinics in 16 countries including Ethiopia, Niger and the Dominican Republic.