Last Mile Humanitarian Logistics on a Shoestring – Part 2

Read Last Mile Humanitarian Logistics on a Shoestring – Part 1.

There was a very positive national and international response to the first “Last Mile Humanitarian Logistics on a Shoestring” Article that I wrote for the New Zealand Logistics & Supply Chain magazine, FTD. So much so that the FTD article has been loaded onto numerous websites of humanitarian aid donors and corporates internationally – including entities in the UK, USA and Germany. In addition, I am proud to say the article was also published in the October 2015 edition (Vol 17 Number 10) of the UK Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT-UK) “Focus” magazine. The CILT is an internationally recognised body of logistics, transport and supply chain professionals that is represented in many countries.

The Vanuatu story is under pinned by how an informal network of logistics professionals cooperated to deliver such a positive result raised significant interest. The story continues to evolve to the extent that Lynne Richardson of FTD asked if I would do a follow up article. Obviously, I agreed. For the Vanuatu outer island people it is, however, a bit of an “out of the frying pan and into the fire” story of cyclone devastation followed now by an impending El Nino drought, and certainly a tale worth telling. I would like to extend my thanks also to Sam Bell who provided much of the information for this second article. He and his wife, Jess, continue to supply desalinated water and deliver much needed building materials etc., to the outer Shepherd Islands in the Vanuatu group.

This effort began with the donation of 40ft container of Butynol roofing membrane from Ardex NZ Christchurch NZ for Samaritans Purse USA, who needed to get to the outer islands of Vanuatu. With the assistance of Gotlift USA, Coporate Logistics NZ, Toll NZ, and particularly Swire Shipping A’Asia – a significant volume of goods has moved since then. In addition, witaaid.org has been formed to provide continuing support this effort. Again, my thanks again to Nick Ferner and Aimee Preston of frankandpeggyphotography, for their generosity in giving us permission to use their stunning images.

At the recent CILT-NZ Awards Dinner informal conversations suggested there might be merit in members of the CILT who had personal and company interest in Humanitarian Logistics (Hum Log) projects forming an extended and informal pool of expertise and resource to assist others who are already working in this Hum Log space. Perhaps this might be a good focus for Vanuatu and 2016, as its somewhere we all know and perhaps a project that is small enough to learn start with.

Walter Glass
Director- Logistics Training Group (LTG)